USA: Miami wants to make the case to the world that climate-proofing is worth the cost
By Alex Harris
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Since he was elected, [Mayor Francis Suarez] has spoken more frequently about the impact of climate change on his city, largely focused on the economic impacts on a community built on tourism and real estate. Many in the real estate industry worry that the modern stream of scientific research and media attention to Miami’s vulnerability will scare away investors and residents, and at least one wealth manager in the city is already advising clients to invest elsewhere.
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Through Suarez, the city’s strategy to combat that negative attention is to start talking more about the work it’s doing to protect real estate and the people who live in it.
Miami, along with Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, is a part of the 100 Resilient Cities collaboration, which will present policies to put into practice this summer. Miami’s stormwater master plan, which will do the heavy lifting in revamping the city’s pipes and pumps, is about halfway done. The Army Corps of Engineers is studying the city’s bay with plans to largely fund a project to protect the shoreline, which could take the form of a continuous sea wall or even a surge protector in the mouth of the Miami River.
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When the [South Florida building] codes were developed, Suarez said, the “urban sprawl developers” — who saw their housing stock decimated in the storm — “freaked out.” But the code changes passed, he said, and other parts of the country have since adopted the new standards. "[Hurricane] Andrew, in a way, has set the stage for hardening projects and resilience,” he said. The commission will create a report — due in September — that details what nations need to do to adapt to climate change. After the report comes a “Year of Action,” when committee members will push the recommendations along.
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