Resilience and Equity

Addressing systemic inequities through data and partnerships

“We can’t really enhance resilience without first tackling systemic inequities,” says Sara Meerow, an assistant professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

A former KER Resilience Fellow, Meerow leads the Planning for Urban Resilience Lab and is a member of the leadership team for the Equitable Places Lab at ASU. Her research is driven by the question of how to make cities more resilient in a way that is also just and equitable.

“More and more studies are showing how there are racial inequities in exposure to different kinds of hazards,” she notes. “For example, often the hottest areas are also areas that were historically redlined, where you have higher percentages of minority communities.”

KER research has confirmed this trend in Phoenix. Mapping land surface temperature and heat-related illness over old redlining boundaries shows a correlation between historical underinvestment and heat vulnerability.

“You can just see it,” says Melissa Guardaro, KER’s associate director for resilience hubs. “You can just drive through the different neighborhoods and see the difference in tree plantings and public spaces for cooling. It is starkly apparent.”

But even well-intentioned solutions may enhance resilience for some members of the community while reducing it for the very people it was intended to help.

“There’s a long tradition in the US of efforts to build stronger, more resilient infrastructure that end up forcing people out of neighborhoods and leading to displacement,” says Meerow.

That’s why partnering with communities from start to finish is crucial. KER collaborates with Maria Rosario Jackson, director of the Herberger Institute’s Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities, to help us build this capacity in our Resilience Fellows.

An expert in creative placemaking, Jackson emphasizes the role that arts and design have to play in making communities more connected and resilient. “Designers and artists are unique and often underactivated assets in communities,” she says. Each year, Jackson teaches our fellows about how to leverage community creativity to build more resilient and equitable places. She has also served as a de facto advisor for many fellows, helping them put these lessons into practice.

■ Visit the Planning for Urban Resilience Lab at bit.ly/3De5jmP

■ Visit the Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities at bit.ly/30ciGW5