Plan

Climate Ready Boston - Resilience Initiatives

Summary

Guided by Boston's Vulnerability Assessment findings, which identified and quantified the impacts of future climate change, the City chose to undertake a set of climate resilience initiatives to address Boston’s climate risks. These initiatives will increase Boston’s ability to thrive in the face of intensifying climate hazards, leading to stronger neighborhoods and improved quality of life for all residents.

Year
2024

Details

Hazards Addressed
Extreme Heat
Flooding – Coastal
Flooding – Rainfall-induced
Assets
Energy and Utilities
People
Property
Transportation and Mobility
Water Infrastructure – Wastewater
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Equity Insights

Building on its commitment to inclusive growth, the City will use its climate adaptation efforts as a tool to enable more residents to fully participate in Boston’s economy. Where possible, the City will link resilience investments to investments in housing, transportation, open space, job growth, and neighborhood services in order to increase safety, economic opportunity, and livability for all residents. Because resilience improvements may increase property values and thereby potentially affect affordability for residents, the City, led by the Office of Resilience and Racial Equity, will work to address these impacts by developing a resilience and racial equity toolkit. This toolkit can be used to evaluate policies and practices in order to make sure that racial equity and social cohesion form the foundation of the City’s decision-making processes.

Lessons Learned

High-speed Internet infrastructure is a tool that all Bostonians need to engage in the educational, economic, and civic pursuits that are critical to a future of equity and opportunity. The City is committed to providing Bostonians with access to high-speed Internet, along with the skills and tools to leverage this technology, to build the individual, family, and community capacity necessary for preparedness.

Options Used

Create future flood maps to support planning, policy and regulation. The flood maps should show the extent and depth of future flooding. They might include indications of wave action, moving water and Evaluate opportunities to increase shade trees and structures, reduce heat-absorbing surfaces and add “spray” water features and water fountains as part of all capital upgrades. Test new technologies, materials and tools to increase flood preparedness. For example, test inflatable flood barriers.

Steps to Resilience

Get Started
Understand Exposure
Assess Vulnerability & Risk
Investigate Options
Prioritize & Plan
Take Action

Additional Resources

2019 update to Boston Climate Action Plan
2021 Climate Action Report

Plans

Climate Ready Boston - Resilience Initiatives

Organizations to Contact

City of Boston, MA

Relevant Options

Develop a comprehensive maintenance and training program for local government employees at facilities with backup generators to ensure proper placement, hook-up and function during hazard events. Encourage utility companies to harden energy infrastructure systems (e.g., poles, lines) against damage from climate-related effects and expand redundancy in the energy network. Support the study and development of microgrid infrastructure systems to enhance power quality, reliability and resilience for facilities during grid outages and under normal conditions.

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