The Role of Non-Climate Data in Equitable Climate Adaptation Planning: Lessons from Small French and American Cities

Elena Lioubimtseva and Charlotte da Cunha
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Elena Lioubimtseva: Department of Geography and Sustainable Planning, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, USA
Charlotte da Cunha: CEARC Laboratory, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/Université Paris Saclay, 11 Boulevard d’Alembert, 78280 Guyancourt, France

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: There is a growing consensus that to effectively adapt to climate change, cities need user-friendly tools and reliable high-resolution biophysical and socio-economic data for analysis, mapping, modeling, and visualization. This study examines the availability of various types of information used in climate adaptation plans of 40 municipalities with a population of less than 300,000 people in the United States and France, probing into the choice and usage of relevant information by small municipalities. We argue that non-climatic spatial data, such as population demographic and socio-economic patterns, urban infrastructure, and environmental data must be integrated with climate tools and datasets to inform effective vulnerability assessment and equitable adaptation planning goals. Most climate adaptation plans examined in this study fail to address the existing structural inequalities and environmental injustices in urban infrastructure and land use. Their challenges include methodological and ideological barriers, data quality issues, and a lack of meaningful community connections. Adaptation methodological approaches should be reassessed in the context of much-needed societal transformation. Lessons learned from our studies offer valuable insights for the potential development of national and state-level climate adaptation information services for cities.

Keywords: climate change adaptation; adaptation plan; small municipality; France; United States; climate services; information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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