Indicators for Flood Adaptation Assessment: The Case of New York City

Abstract: Due to both the effects of climate change and the high concentrations of infrastructure and socio-economic activity in low-lying areas in NYC, floods have the potential to destroy homes and businesses, impair infrastructure, and threaten human safety. Measurement, reporting, and verification are vital steps in evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of a climate change adaptation efforts. However, to date, there is no report that evaluates flood adaptation capacity in NYC nor a universal framework for flood adaptation assessment. The aim of this research is twofold. First it aims at developing a general framework for flood adaptation at the municipal level to guide decision-making in public investment and policy and to identify changes that can increase its flood adaptation capacity. Secondly, through a validation process with key experts, it suggests potential indicators that NYC could use to assess its flood adaptation, which are yet to be selected by the city. The resulting general framework is an adaptation of the framework developed in the NYPCC 2019 Report for assessing flood adaptation capacity, together with the categories for indicators used by ICLEI European Secretariat (2011) and contributions from other frameworks and field experts interviewed. Despite not being able to determine a concrete level with the current framework, the results have some implications for both NYC and future research.