The economic toll of the coronavirus is forcing cities and states to redirect money away from projects that provide climate resilience, in a shift that threatens to tackle one crisis at the expense of another.
When you think of procurement, what comes to mind? Ordering office chairs? Hiring a waste-hauling firm? You probably don’t think of procurement
After Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, Houston jumped to the front of the pack in adapting to the threat of climate change. It passed tougher building codes, offered more buyouts for flood-prone homes and budgeted billions of dollars in new funding for flood control.
Considering the depth of our climate crisis, one positive sign is increased attention. Democratic hopefuls are introducing various plans to combat the crisis, leading to an arms race for the boldest proposals and largest investments.
When almost a month’s worth of rain deluged this city on Monday morning, turning streets into rivers and basements into wading pools, it showed just how vulnerable cities with aging water systems can be in the era of climate change.
re:focus is a design firm that specializes in developing resilient infrastructure solutions for cities and communities around the world and integrating project finance into the design process.
Another Infrastructure Week (the real one) just wrapped up, and after seven years many of the core themes remain the same. Crumbling roads and bridges. Desperate calls for new investment. A high national price tag for repair and revitalization. Little progress.
City officials can easily engage their residents on social networks like Facebook, Twitter or NextDoor, but they often struggle to find outlets to communicate with their peers in city governments across the country.
AFTER AMAZON CANCELLED its plans to build a new campus in New York City, famed venture capitalist Fred Wilson told the New York Times, "To really be a success in New York, the benefits of the tech sector have to extend to every borough and every neighborhood."
When natural disasters occur, governments are often considered as “insurers of last resort” and are expected to help with losses not covered by traditional insurance and to coordinate and fund reconstruction efforts.