The Town+Gown: Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation Analysis (VIA) project is co-led by Professors Joel Towers and Dr. Timon McPhearson at The New School to carry out a $2.5M study on future climate change and its potential impacts to inform decision-making by the City of New York and assessment reports by the NYC Panel on Climate Change and the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ).

The team includes scientists from nine academic institutions (The New School, Columbia University, Cornell University, City University of New York, Drexel University, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Sarah Lawrence College, Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, and Stevens Institute of Technology), four governmental institutions and nonprofit organizations (Natural Resources Defense Council, Population Council, NASA/GISS, and USDA Forest Service) and from the private sector (Arcadis). Together, this team will work collaboratively to develop a comprehensive analysis of future potential climate conditions and associated socio-economic impacts in New York City. Specifically, the team will:

• Develop climate projections for the NYC region, including high resolution heat risk and exposure projections, storm surge risk analysis, and coastal flood mapping,

• Characterize current and future extreme heavy rainfall in New York City,

• Conduct a systematic assessment of health-related economic costs from climate-sensitive events in New York City, and

• Create a Coastal Flooding Vulnerability Index for New York City

Press Release

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Final Report: NYC Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation Analysis (VIA)

This report assesses future climate change and its potential impacts, to inform decision-making by the City of New York. The findings draw from an 18-month study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Professors Joel Towers and Dr. Timon McPhearson at The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center and Urban Systems Lab commissioned by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) through a Town+Gown partnership program.

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Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Luis Ortiz, Ahmed Mustafa, Chris Kennedy, Claudia Tomateo, Daniel Sauter, Z. Grabowski, Pablo Herreros-Cantis, Veronica Olivotto

The USL’s Covid-19 related research aims to integrate survey, social media, building infrastructure, energy demand and use, and social-demographic data with simulations of potential emerging weather-related extremes to examine interdependent social vulnerability to COVID-19 and weather in New York City (NYC).

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Project themes

Urban Climate Resilience · Urban Policy and Planning

Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Daniel Sauter, Claudia Tomateo, Elizabeth Cook, Veronica Olivotto

The NYC Stormwater Resiliency Study was a joint effort with New York City governmental stakeholders, including the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Mayor’s Office of Resiliency (MOR), and Emergency Management (NYCEM). The aim was to improve service reliability and resiliency of stormwater systems by planning and implementing effective and viable green infrastructure strategies across the city through integrated stormwater management.

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Project Updates

In May 2021, the NYC Mayor's Office released the first ever citywide Stormwater Resiliency Plan, which includes an analysis of flooding caused by extreme rainfall events across the 5 boroughs. The Plan draws from results of the NYC Stormwater Resiliency Study, a Town and Gown initiative co-led by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Mayor’s Office of Resiliency (MOR), Emergency Management (NYCEM), and several academic partners including the Urban Systems Lab (USL) at The New School. The overall goal of the study was to develop a unique model to advance the City's assessment of present and future exposure to urban flooding, to use these data to identify the most at-risk parts of NYC, and to identify interventions to offset this exposure. The USL co-led the development of a hydrologic model of flooding, and simulation of citywide flood exposure for twenty current and future storm scenarios with partners at Brooklyn College.

However, what is not clear is how future flooding in NYC may disproportionately impact critical infrastructure and minority and low income populations.

As part of this effort, the USL has launched stormwater.nyc a 3D data visualization mapping platform that integrates publically available data on stormwater resiliency in NYC, with population demographics, land use/cover data layers, location of critical infrastructure and greenspaces, and the New York Panel on Climate Change’s floodplain maps. To date, no other mapping platform has been developed that provides the ability to compare and contrast the potential social and infrastructural risk of future flooding scenarios in NYC. Over the coming months, the Lab will be adding in additional functionality that will allow toggling between layers to better interact with the scenarios and social and infrastructural layers, which we hope will provide a multi-hazard risk decision-support tool to improve resiliency prioritization. We will also be customizing this platform further and can also curate a series of waypoints that guide a reader through a narrative that highlights a neighborhood, e.g. one in each borough, where potential flood impact can be compared. 

In cities across the U.S., extreme precipitation is projected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Urban areas are especially vulnerable to extreme precipitation due to the presence of impervious surfaces that avoid water from infiltrating. Recent events like Tropical Storm Elsa make clear that this leads to higher amounts of stormwater that need to be managed by the city's sewer systems, which can lead to flooding and/or water quality issues. Our aim in launching stormwater.nyc is to create a central node for considering the interdependent and cascading risks that multiple climate hazards and threats have on NYC’s diverse communities and to enable informed and equitable decision-making, particularly for those most at-risk. 

Research Team:

• Timon McPhearson, Director, Urban Systems Lab and Professor of Urban Ecology, The New School, timon.mcphearson@newschool.edu

• Daniel Sauter, Associate Director, Urban Systems Lab and Associate Professor of Data Visualization The New School, sauter@newschool.edu

• Claudia Tomateo, Research Fellow, The Urban Systems Lab, The New School,  tomateoc@newschool.edu

• Veronica Olivotto,  PhD Fellow, The Urban Systems Lab, The New School, olivv722@newschool.edu 

Citation:

Herreros-Cantis, Pablo, Veronica Olivotto, Zbigniew Grabowski, and Timon McPhearson. 2020. “Shifting Landscapes of Coastal Flood Risk: Environmental (In)Justice of Urban Change, Sea Level Rise, and Differential Vulnerability in NYC.” Urban Transformations 2:9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-020-00014-w

Project Theme

Urban Climate Resilience

Project Team: Timon McPhearson

From 2012 to 2015, the Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (URBES) project generated a variety of science-based contributions to improving the quality and sustainability of life in cities. It generated data on biodiversity and ecosystem services through case studies in Berlin, Stockholm, Rotterdam, Salzburg, Helsinki, and New York. Funded by BiodivERsA through DIVERSITAS with €1 Million over three years, the URBES team represented 11 leading research institutions in Europe and the United States. The project gave rise to ongoing collaborations between USL and colleagues at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, and Humboldt University in Berlin.

project theme

Urban Ecology

Project Team: Timon McPhearson

For the ENABLE project, USL is working with an international and transdisciplinary group to advance Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) in urban areas. GBI refers to infrastructure composed of vegetation, water, and other elements that minimize pollution. ENABLE researchers are testing GBI solutions in the metropolitan regions of Halle, Barcelona, Łódź, Stockholm, Oslo, and New York. Timon McPhearson is primary investigator for the New York case study and co-lead for research modules that address ecosystem services, climate resilience, and impacts of GBI on local communities.

Project theme

Nature Based Solutions

Attendees at the project launch discuss the challenges and opportunities in planning for climate change. Photo: C. Ballard

Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Rohan Bhargava

In September 2019, the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) organized a 5-day workshop and learning journey for IFAD staff and partners. The objective of the workshop and learning journey was to introduce attendees to transformational approaches to mainstreaming climate change, nutrition, gender, and youth. The fifth day of the event involved the analyzing and discussion of transformation agendas at the country and project levels under future socio-economic and climate scenarios. Junior Researcher Rohan Bhargava led the development of these scenarios and co-led the one-day workshop.

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Project theme

Community Engagement · Environmental Justice & Equity

Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Ahmed Mustafa, Luis Ortiz, Katinka Wijsman, Bart Orr, Veronica Olivotto, Daniel Sauter, Claudia Tomateo, Chris Kennedy, Yaella Depietri, Elizabeth Cook, Rocio Carrero

USL is co-leading the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (UREx SRN), a five-year project funded through a $12 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The highly interdisciplinary UREx team includes scientists, students, planners, NGOs, industry, and other stakeholders in cities throughout the Americas. We are developing an innovative set of methods to assess how infrastructure can be more resilient, provide ecosystem services, and incorporate new technologies that strengthen socio-environmental wellbeing.

As part of the UREx project, USL is producing 3D visualizations that examine the equity implications of urban vulnerability. These interactive maps of nine cities integrate social, ecological, and technological data from a variety of sources. The map for New York City has played an important role in our collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Recovery & Resiliency and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay to reduce the city’s vulnerability to flooding.

project theme

Urban Climate Resilience

Project Team: Timon McPhearson

Future Earth is an international research platform that helps accelerate transformations to a sustainable world. Its aim is to ensure that scientific understanding is generated in partnership with people throughout society to develop long-term solutions to environmental problems. USL has provided leadership as a member of the core development team, helping to launch the Urban Knowledge-Action Network (UKAN) and the Livable Urban Futures project.

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Project themes

Urban Climate Resilience · Data Visualization & Design · Community Engagement

Social-ecological and technological factors moderate the value of urban nature

By Bonnie L. Keeler, Perrine Hamel, Timon McPhearson, Maike H. Hamann, Marie L. Donahue, Kelly A. Meza Prado, Katie K. Arkema, Gregory N. Bratman, Kate A. Brauman, Jacques C. Finlay, Anne D. Guerry, Sarah E. Hobbie, Justin A. Johnson, Graham K. MacDonald, Robert I. McDonald, Nick Neverisky & Spencer A. Wood

Project Team: Timon McPhearson

Urban ecosystems and biodiversity are forms of natural capital with profound influence on human wellbeing. As part of the Natural Capital Project, USL is developing the Urban InVEST valuation model with colleagues from Stanford University, University of Minnesota, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics. Urban InVEST integrates spatially explicit biophysical and socio-economic data to allow users to quantify and map the impacts of alternative urban designs on ecosystem services — showing their associated benefits and costs for different communities.

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Project themes

Big Data & Artificial Intelligence · Nature-Based Solutions · Urban Ecology

Project Team: Timon McPhearson, Taylor Drake Chris Hepner Josh Snow

Like most cities, New York struggles with a lack of connectivity between parks and smaller green spaces. The Networked Urban Ecology project is dedicated to linking fragmented habitats that promote biodiversity and provide important services to society. Through a program called Connect the Dots, it merges ecological research with participatory design to build innovative corridors between parkland, street vegetation, green roofs/walls, and other elements throughout the city — with emphasis on places where greenery is lacking. This network has the potential to significantly improve public health, livability, equity, resilience, and sustainability.

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Project theme

Urban Ecology