Connection
Architects, Stop Calling It “Managed Retreat” The majority of U.S. coastlines are being threatened by sea level rise at an alarming rate. Architects are now more engaged in a discussion about managing the “retreat” of entire communities from vulnerable coastlines. But the language they continue to use is perpetuating a top-down approach.
Above: Nuisance flooding in Lindenhurst, N.Y., 2018. Image credit - Dan Horn
Above: Buyout properties that have been abandoned in South Lindenhurst, N.Y., 2018. Image credit - Dan Horn
Sea level rise and the compounding risks of climate change will bring the greatest risk to front-line and environmental justice communities in modern times. The overwhelming science shows that the current and future increase in sea levels, projected through 2100, will be detrimental to low-lying areas. One thing is certain: These communities will bear the brunt of the impacts if nothing is done about it.
character, and livelihoods apart. “Managed retreat” is to blame, the “official” policy terminology for the relocation of entire neighborhoods out of high-hazard, repetitive-loss areas. The verbiage depicts the destructive approach taken by nationwide programs to change the way people reside near coastlines.
Moving is financially, psychologically, and politically difficult, but it will need to be seriously considered to protect the communities that reside there. And while it may be easier to talk about elevating homes, building large and expensive infrastructure to protect the areas with interventions like sea walls and offshore wave attenuation structures, these are simply costly temporary fixes, putting off the inevitable. Communities face an ever-increasing risk of large-scale governmental initiatives tearing generations of rich culture,
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Buyouts vs. Managed Retreat
Built environment professionals have talked about relocating entire communities away from vulnerable coastlines for decades as the science behind climate change evolved. The discussion of relocating coastal communities rose out of necessity after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the East Coast of the U.S. in 2012. In its aftermath, the federal government, through state-sponsored programs, provided affected homeowners financing to rebuild and, in the most severely damaged areas, offered to “buy out” these high-risk properties in the floodplain. Several hundred homes in the communities of Fox Beach, Ocean Breeze, and Oakwood Beach on New York’s
