Community Cloudburst Design in Public Housing Communities

Historic government investment in climate mitigation and thoughtful approaches to planning, designing, and implementing infrastructure projects offer planners a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine public space in ways that protect critical infrastructure and safeguard and improve quality of life.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is leveraging public and private funding to develop nature-based and engineered cloudburst solutions and community amenities that protect and revitalize campuses against flooding for the long term. Through an inclusive participatory design process that includes residents, elected officials, and content-area experts, NYCHA is redesigning its vast but underutilized open spaces as resiliency parks. Innovative design, absorbent amenities, and creative bioretention will fortify vulnerable assets and serve as points of pride for traditionally underserved communities at highest risk for climate disasters. As the largest provider of public housing in North America, NYCHA will demonstrate how cost-effective and equitable stormwater management can shift the resiliency narrative from onerous requirements to groundbreaking opportunities for community assets that build social resiliency and civic trust. This presentation describes proven concepts and strategies that have positive impacts on communities.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Intermediate. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.