Urban Design for Resilience to Multiple Uncertain Hazard Scenarios - Robust Strategies for Coastal Resilience in Westport, Washington

Abstract

This thesis explores the development of robust urban design strategies for resilience in the face of multiple uncertain and complex hazard scenarios. Resilient urban design is illustrated through the case of Westport, a coastal city in the State of Washington, which faces inundation threats from multiple possible tsunami scenarios as well as from climate change-driven sea level rise. Community workshops with local and state experts in pre-disaster planning as well as members of the general public inform the strategies and their integration into an upcoming update of Westport’s Comprehensive Plan (documented in Appendices). The urban design strategies consist of: (i) a suite of built environmental projects – including vertical evacuation structures and routes, complete streets, and flood-tolerant development – that, together, mitigate the impacts of a range of hazards varying in their likelihood, suddenness, and severity; (ii) an adaptive planning strategy that provides a long-term vision of how these projects may be implemented over time, in increments; and (iii) a Community Based Social Marketing strategy to ensure that the built environment projects are relevant to community members’ daily life and contribute to the city’s on-going development; connected to people (strengthening social capital) and therefore are successful in their purpose (or utilized to their full potential) to function in an emergency situation.