Infrastructure Resilience Planning

Inspired by Emma Howard Boyd CBE's post from earlier today, I was reflecting on London's predicament. London stands at a crossroads in how it manages water resources & strengthens its resilience to climate change. W/ rising populations, aging infrastructure, & increasingly extreme weather patterns, the city’s ability to secure its water future & protect against floods is under huge pressure At the heart of the challenge are 2 interconnected risks: water scarcity & flooding. By the 40s, daily water deficits of up to 400m litres could threaten supply, while rising groundwater, heavy rainfall, & overwhelmed infrastructure pose flooding risks for homes, businesses, & transport networks. Climate extremes are no longer hypothetical & our systems need urgent upgrades to adapt. To future-proof London, a multi-faceted approach is essential: 🔹 Demand mgmt: reducing water consumption through efficiency measures in homes and businesses is the most immediate and cost-effective step. Education, incentives, & smart technologies can cut waste & manage supply 🔹 Nature-based solutions: urban wetlands, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), & green infrastructure are vital. These approaches allow nature to help manage water—absorbing excess during storms, replenishing groundwater, & cooling urban areas—while enhancing biodiversity & public spaces 🔹 Infrastructure innovation: London’s Victorian-era water systems are under enormous strain. Significant investment is needed to upgrade pipelines, reservoirs, and treatment facilities to meet modern demands & withstand climate stresses. Partnerships between public & private sectors are critical to fund this long-term transformation 🔹 Climate risk integration: ensuring that every major infrastructure project incorporates climate resilience is vital. Resilience should not be an afterthought but a foundation for planning & development We need collaboration too. Water utilities, government agencies, businesses, and communities must work together to implement solutions that balance supply, demand, and risk. This means aligning incentives, investing in innovation, & embracing a holistic view of water management that protects both people & ecosystems. London has a unique opportunity to lead the way as a global city facing climate pressures. By combining smart tech, policy innovation, and nature-based solutions, it can build a water-secure future that safeguards lives, livelihoods, & the environment. Several urban areas across the UK face the dual challenges of both water scarcity & flooding, similar to London. Carbon Brief's work suggests examples include: 1. Cardiff 2. Leeds 3. Exeter 4. Newport These urban areas exemplify the broader national challenge of managing both flood risks & potential water shortages. Addressing these issues requires integrated water management strategies, investment in resilient infrastructure, & climate adaptation measures to safeguard communities & ensure sustainable water resources.

Extreme heat events pose significant risks to transportation infrastructure and services globally. Asphalt pavements, steel rails, aviation networks, public transit systems, and active transport modes face substantial pressures from heat exposure, with rippling impacts on operations, safety, user comfort, and asset maintenance costs. Elevated temperatures considerably accelerate road infrastructure deterioration, causing up to 75% reduction in pavement life by 2100. This necessitates various changes in standards (e.g. thickness increases and reconstruction expenses over $60,000 per km) to adapt pavements. Rutting emerges as the primary pavement failure mode, escalated by 0.036” to 0.134” over 100 years, with a strong correlation to temperature rise. Additionally, proactive climate adaptation strategies prove far less costly than reactive approaches for pavements. Some countries exhibit a 40x difference in costs between proactive and reactive strategies by 2100. In collaboration with Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and The World Bank we organized a set of expert working group meetings and developed an actionable, forward looking climate resilient agenda for preparing transportation systems for heatwaves. We have identified low regret strategies and adaptation pathways that cities can use to prepare transportation systems. Consideration of heat equity is an important part of this process. Our ideas are summarized today in the Nature Magazine paper (https://lnkd.in/gWDCMsKf) where we provide call for action to improve the resilience of global transport systems to future heatwaves. A full report that identifies the barriers, impacts, technologies and policy actions is in review and will be released in the future. If anyone is interested in discussing climate-resilient transportation systems and want to discuss these ideas, please feel free to get in touch with us. Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Nick Jones Sangung Park Shagun Mittal Natalia Romero Paolo Avner Gabriele Manoli Andrea Santos #climateresilience #heatwaves #transport #infrastructure #smartcities

For decades, Washington covered much of the cost of resilience projects. Now, communities are being forced to figure it out alone. While long-term funding solutions exist, most take years to implement. The challenge? Cities need money today. I work with communities to identify risks, prioritize resilience strategies, and turn data into action. But too often, great plans stall because funding is uncertain. The good news? There are ways to fund resilience now—without waiting on Washington. Five ways cities can fund resilience today: - Leverage Civic Crowdfunding – Platforms like ioby and local resilience funds can jumpstart community-driven projects with immediate impact. - Microfinance for Climate Resilience – Small-scale resilience loans help individual homeowners, small businesses, and farmers make affordable flood and heat adaptations. - Resilience Impact Bonds & Pay-for-Success Models: Private investors are ready to fund resilience projects—cities just need to structure deals that deliver measurable risk reduction. - Direct-to-Community Resilience Grants: Some cities are skipping the bureaucracy and setting up small-scale grant funds that get money into neighborhoods quickly. - Regional Cost-Sharing Agreements: Local governments can pool their resources for resilience projects, reducing costs and increasing impact. These aren’t just ideas—they’re real-world funding strategies that cities and counties have used to move projects forward. I’ll be sharing a deeper dive into resilience funding later this week—so stay tuned! I help communities make resilience planning actionable—mapping risks, prioritizing solutions, and creating strategies that don’t sit on a shelf. If your city needs a simple, clear, data-driven resilience plan that’s built for action, let’s talk. #Resilience #ClimateFunding #LocalGovernment #CommunityResilience #ClimateFinance #FundingSolutions

Are our cities designed to withstand the next major disaster, or are they destined to crumble under pressure? The future of urban living demands a proactive approach: building smart cities for disaster resilience. A smart city isn't just about connectivity; it's about intelligence embedded into every layer of infrastructure to safeguard lives and livelihoods. The UNDRR (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) highlights how critical technology and strategic planning are to making urban centers robust against growing threats. Key elements of a disaster-resilient smart city: Intelligent Infrastructure: Self-healing power grids, adaptive traffic management systems for swift evacuations, and sensor networks that monitor environmental changes. Data-Driven Preparedness: Utilizing IoT sensors, AI analytics, and integrated data platforms to predict potential hazards and inform real-time interventions. Connected Communities: Ensuring seamless communication networks—even during outages and empowering citizens with accessible, accurate information through mobile apps and digital alerts. Sustainable Design: Integrating green infrastructure, flood-resistant urban planning, and climate-adaptive building codes to reduce physical vulnerabilities. For example, cities in Australia are exploring smart sensor networks to manage water resources and predict flood risks. At the same time, systems in Pakistan could greatly benefit from integrated early warning systems to manage the impact of intense monsoon seasons. Building smart cities isn't just an upgrade; it's an imperative. It’s about transforming urban landscapes into fortresses of resilience, ready to face tomorrow’s challenges. Is your city investing in smart resilience? Discover how technology can build safer, stronger urban communities.

🚀 Check out a new piece I co-authored with C. Forbes Tompkins and Kristiane Huber for The Pew Charitable Trusts: Disaster Resilience: Key Ways to Help Governments and Communities Thrive. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, it’s no longer enough to react. Governments and communities need to act proactively. Here are the 5 “Ps” where intentional action can make all the difference: 📜 Policy ‒ Legislation, land use, development decisions, and clear guidance that align with future disaster risk. 🧑💼 Personnel ‒ Dedicated leadership roles like Chief Resilience Officers and adequate staff capacity to coordinate and sustain resilience work across agencies. 🗺️ Planning ‒ Forward-looking, cross-agency risk assessment and strategic resilience plans that engage stakeholders and embed preparedness in community decision-making. 💡 Proactive Funding ‒ Reliable, dedicated sources of finance, not just reactive or emergency grants, so that resilience investments can happen ahead of disasters. 🏗️ Projects ‒ Thoughtful infrastructure and nature-based solutions (siting, design, green infrastructure, etc.) that reduce risk, protect lives, and minimize long-term costs. These are more than best practices—they are building blocks for thriving communities and resilient governments. 📖 Dive into the full piece: https://lnkd.in/dwF8Ejbv