Urban plans often ignore the uneven impacts of hazards on socially vulnerable populations. We eva... more Urban plans often ignore the uneven impacts of hazards on socially vulnerable populations. We evaluate the degree to which equity policies in local networks of plans support risk reduction for socially vulnerable populations, and examine the relationship between equity policies scores and the level of social vulnerability in six cities exposed to floods and projected sea level rise. We find high variability in equity policy support for risk reduction, and that equity policies in plans actually actively increase risk of loss in neighborhoods with high levels of social vulnerability, which in turn could disrupt further development.
Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have a... more Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have added pressure to infrastructure in urban areas. Thus, monitoring for failure of these systems is crucial to prevent future impacts to life and property. Participatory assessment technique for infrastructure provides a community-based approach to assess the capacity and physical condition of infrastructure. Furthermore, a participatory assessment technique for infrastructure can encourage grassroots activism that engages residents, researchers, and planners in the identification of sustainable development concerns and solutions. As climate change impacts disproportionately affect historically disenfranchised communities, assessment data can further inform planning, aiming to balance the distribution of public resources towards sustainability and justice. This paper explains the development of the participatory assessment technique for infrastructure that can provide empirical data about the condition of infrastructure at the neighborhood-level, using stormwater systems in a vulnerable neighborhood in Houston, Texas as a case study. This paper argues for the opportunity of participatory methods to address needs in infrastructure assessment and describes the ongoing project testing the best use of these methods.
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to ... more Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to address disaster resilience and environmental justice. Evidence from the literature suggests that resident participation enhances assessment of environmental risks, raises awareness and empowers residents to fight for equitable distribution of hazard and climate risk adaptations. Yet, risk assessment and urban planning processes still frequently operate within expertise-driven groups without significant community engagement. Such fragmentation results in part from a lack of appreciation for community expertise in built environment adaptations and educational tools to support resident involvement in the often technical built environment planning processes. Design/methodology/approach A participatory research and place-based education project was developed that enhanced co-learning between residents and researchers while collecting and analyzing local data on flood resilience in the built ...
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Purpose This paper aims to determine household perceptions of disaster recovery plan development ... more Purpose This paper aims to determine household perceptions of disaster recovery plan development and implementation, and to identify groups that may be less aware of the recovery planning process to provide recommendations to officials for improving participation in planning and resident support of implementation priorities. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 194 residents of a US Atlantic coast county impacted by Hurricane Irene. Respondents were selected via a two-stage cluster sampling method automated through the use of a Geographic Information Systems toolkit. Findings Although few households reported participation in the county’s recovery planning process, a majority felt that the plan would be better if it incorporated input from a wide range of stakeholders. The number one reason residents did not participate was the lack of knowledge that they could. Some vulnerable populations were less aware of the recovery plan, including the elderly ...
Previous research has shown that communities with low average socioeconomic status (SES) and majo... more Previous research has shown that communities with low average socioeconomic status (SES) and majority minority populations are more likely to be exposed to industrial buildings, waste facilities, and poor infrastructure compared to white communities with higher average SES. While some studies have demonstrated linkages between exposures to specific environmental contaminates within these communities and negative health outcomes, little research has analyzed the effects of environmental contaminants on the mental and physical health of these populations. A cross-sectional survey collected data from residents of Manchester, a small neighborhood in Houston, TX, that is characterized by industrial sites, unimproved infrastructure, nuisance flooding, and poor air quality. Our study (N = 109) utilized the 12 item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF12v2) to assess the general mental and physical health of the community. The community as a whole had reduced physical health scores compared to U.S. national averages. The time residents had lived in the neighborhood was also correlated with a reported reduction in physical health scores (r2 = 0.136; p-value <0.001). The association between time lived in the neighborhood and poorer health scores remained after adjusting for age, race, and gender (coef = -0.27, p-value <0.001). Mental health scores were within national averages and time spent living in the neighborhood did not appear to negatively impact respondent's mental health scores. These findings point to the need for more research to determine the potential for additive physical and mental health impacts in long-term residents in neighborhoods characterized by environmental justice issues.
ABSTRACT One of America's most interesting trends in land-use and environmental planning ... more ABSTRACT One of America's most interesting trends in land-use and environmental planning is state-mandated planning for local governments. Essentially, it occurs as a means of collaboration between states and local governments on important land-use and environmental issues-the state sets policies and goals but leaves specific details and plan implementation to the discretion of local governments. Ten states have adopted statewide comprehensive growth management programs that either require or strongly encourage local governments to prepare and adopt comprehensive plans, and seven are strongly considering statewide growth management programs. Twelve other states order at least some local governments to prepare comprehensive plans, but those mandates are not part of a state growth management program. In addition, the American Planning Association, as part of its ongoing process of developing a policy on the state's role in growth management, is encouraging mandatory planning as a viable option for states to consider seriously in designing their role.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Jan 22, 2007
This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐develope... more This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐developed Plan Implementation Evaluation methodology. The lack of methodology to assess the implementation of plans has so far precluded any systematic analysis of the determinants of the implementation of local environmental plans. The article focuses on the implementation of plans in New Zealand. The key factors of implementation are: the quality of the plan; the capacity and commitment of land developers to implement plans; the capacity and commitment of the staff and leadership of planning agencies to implement plans; and the interactions between developers and the agency. The analysis is based on 353 permits implementing six local environmental plans in New Zealand, and on surveys of the developers who obtained the permits and of the planning agencies that granted the permits. The analysis finds that plan implementation is mainly driven by the resources of the planning agencies and by the quality of the plans, rather than by the characteristics of developers. Investments in plan writing and agency and staff capacity building thus improve the implementation of plans in the long‐run.
Urban plans often ignore the uneven impacts of hazards on socially vulnerable populations. We eva... more Urban plans often ignore the uneven impacts of hazards on socially vulnerable populations. We evaluate the degree to which equity policies in local networks of plans support risk reduction for socially vulnerable populations, and examine the relationship between equity policies scores and the level of social vulnerability in six cities exposed to floods and projected sea level rise. We find high variability in equity policy support for risk reduction, and that equity policies in plans actually actively increase risk of loss in neighborhoods with high levels of social vulnerability, which in turn could disrupt further development.
Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have a... more Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have added pressure to infrastructure in urban areas. Thus, monitoring for failure of these systems is crucial to prevent future impacts to life and property. Participatory assessment technique for infrastructure provides a community-based approach to assess the capacity and physical condition of infrastructure. Furthermore, a participatory assessment technique for infrastructure can encourage grassroots activism that engages residents, researchers, and planners in the identification of sustainable development concerns and solutions. As climate change impacts disproportionately affect historically disenfranchised communities, assessment data can further inform planning, aiming to balance the distribution of public resources towards sustainability and justice. This paper explains the development of the participatory assessment technique for infrastructure that can provide empirical data about the condition of infrastructure at the neighborhood-level, using stormwater systems in a vulnerable neighborhood in Houston, Texas as a case study. This paper argues for the opportunity of participatory methods to address needs in infrastructure assessment and describes the ongoing project testing the best use of these methods.
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to ... more Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to address disaster resilience and environmental justice. Evidence from the literature suggests that resident participation enhances assessment of environmental risks, raises awareness and empowers residents to fight for equitable distribution of hazard and climate risk adaptations. Yet, risk assessment and urban planning processes still frequently operate within expertise-driven groups without significant community engagement. Such fragmentation results in part from a lack of appreciation for community expertise in built environment adaptations and educational tools to support resident involvement in the often technical built environment planning processes. Design/methodology/approach A participatory research and place-based education project was developed that enhanced co-learning between residents and researchers while collecting and analyzing local data on flood resilience in the built ...
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Purpose This paper aims to determine household perceptions of disaster recovery plan development ... more Purpose This paper aims to determine household perceptions of disaster recovery plan development and implementation, and to identify groups that may be less aware of the recovery planning process to provide recommendations to officials for improving participation in planning and resident support of implementation priorities. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 194 residents of a US Atlantic coast county impacted by Hurricane Irene. Respondents were selected via a two-stage cluster sampling method automated through the use of a Geographic Information Systems toolkit. Findings Although few households reported participation in the county’s recovery planning process, a majority felt that the plan would be better if it incorporated input from a wide range of stakeholders. The number one reason residents did not participate was the lack of knowledge that they could. Some vulnerable populations were less aware of the recovery plan, including the elderly ...
Previous research has shown that communities with low average socioeconomic status (SES) and majo... more Previous research has shown that communities with low average socioeconomic status (SES) and majority minority populations are more likely to be exposed to industrial buildings, waste facilities, and poor infrastructure compared to white communities with higher average SES. While some studies have demonstrated linkages between exposures to specific environmental contaminates within these communities and negative health outcomes, little research has analyzed the effects of environmental contaminants on the mental and physical health of these populations. A cross-sectional survey collected data from residents of Manchester, a small neighborhood in Houston, TX, that is characterized by industrial sites, unimproved infrastructure, nuisance flooding, and poor air quality. Our study (N = 109) utilized the 12 item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF12v2) to assess the general mental and physical health of the community. The community as a whole had reduced physical health scores compared to U.S. national averages. The time residents had lived in the neighborhood was also correlated with a reported reduction in physical health scores (r2 = 0.136; p-value <0.001). The association between time lived in the neighborhood and poorer health scores remained after adjusting for age, race, and gender (coef = -0.27, p-value <0.001). Mental health scores were within national averages and time spent living in the neighborhood did not appear to negatively impact respondent's mental health scores. These findings point to the need for more research to determine the potential for additive physical and mental health impacts in long-term residents in neighborhoods characterized by environmental justice issues.
ABSTRACT One of America's most interesting trends in land-use and environmental planning ... more ABSTRACT One of America's most interesting trends in land-use and environmental planning is state-mandated planning for local governments. Essentially, it occurs as a means of collaboration between states and local governments on important land-use and environmental issues-the state sets policies and goals but leaves specific details and plan implementation to the discretion of local governments. Ten states have adopted statewide comprehensive growth management programs that either require or strongly encourage local governments to prepare and adopt comprehensive plans, and seven are strongly considering statewide growth management programs. Twelve other states order at least some local governments to prepare comprehensive plans, but those mandates are not part of a state growth management program. In addition, the American Planning Association, as part of its ongoing process of developing a policy on the state's role in growth management, is encouraging mandatory planning as a viable option for states to consider seriously in designing their role.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Jan 22, 2007
This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐develope... more This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐developed Plan Implementation Evaluation methodology. The lack of methodology to assess the implementation of plans has so far precluded any systematic analysis of the determinants of the implementation of local environmental plans. The article focuses on the implementation of plans in New Zealand. The key factors of implementation are: the quality of the plan; the capacity and commitment of land developers to implement plans; the capacity and commitment of the staff and leadership of planning agencies to implement plans; and the interactions between developers and the agency. The analysis is based on 353 permits implementing six local environmental plans in New Zealand, and on surveys of the developers who obtained the permits and of the planning agencies that granted the permits. The analysis finds that plan implementation is mainly driven by the resources of the planning agencies and by the quality of the plans, rather than by the characteristics of developers. Investments in plan writing and agency and staff capacity building thus improve the implementation of plans in the long‐run.
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Papers by Philip Berke