3. Results and discussion
Referencing buyouts, Young (2018) argues that managed retreat is often seen as a non-option for most landowners; he writes “retreat is the option that dare not speak its name” (Young, 2018, 527). Researchers such as Koslov (2016) and Gross (2019), note similar feelings amongst politicians and homeowners faced with a buyout. The language used to describe buyouts, and managed retreat more generally, is a useful place to begin evaluating the social license of coastal adaptation strategies. What people say about buyouts often implies certain expectations and beliefs about actors, their roles and what the meaning of retreat means (Koslov, 2016; Maldonado et al., 2020). In both popular media and academic literature, it is relatively common to see coastal managers and property owners equating “retreat” with “failure” or defeat (Koslov, 2016; Young, 2018; Siders, 2019; Maldonado et al., 2020). During one interview, a participant said, “I look at retreat as running away, and fixing something as going head-on, and what’s best, right?” (Participant 3, 2021). Increasing the social license of a buyout program will therefore likely involve challenging deeply held beliefs about government’s responsibility to address hazards, the approaches that government ‘should’ take, and understandings of environmental processes, emotions and perceptions. Several studies have sought to understand these beliefs, and the factors that drive people to accept or reject a buyout even in the face of repeated loss and tragedy. The academic literature is clear in noting that people resist or accept buyouts for many reasons and these reasons are heterogeneous across space and time (Robinson et al., 2018; Dachary-Bernard et al., 2019; Frimpong et al., 2019; Seebauer & Winkler, 2020). Researchers generally agree that attachment to place, property condition, relocation site characteristics, location in the floodplain, and distance to the coast can all impact the uptake of a buyout program (Frimpong et al., 2019). However, other issues also have influence, including repeated hazard/risk exposure, financial agency, real estate markets, access to information, and community ties (Bukvic et al., 2018; Frimpong et al., 2019; Bukvic, 2020). That said, the literature agrees that these factors are heavily context dependent (Bukvic et al., 2018; Frimpong et al., 2019; Bukvic, 2020). During interviews, multiple participants identified several of the above issues, including place attachment, return on investment, the political viability of retreat, and existing social tensions.
Figure 6: Damaged breakwall and armour stone revetment
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