Early Career Urban Working Group Panel Discussion

[npr99]

Urban IDEAS Panel Discussion

Multi-Sector Dynamics Community of Practice (https://multisectordynamics.org/)

Rosenheim_MSD_Urban_Energy_Panel_2024-11-22.pdf

Summary of talk given by Nathanael Rosenheim 2024-11-22

The work I'm presenting is part of a long-term project focused on understanding disparities in resilience. To comprehend these disparities, researchers must combine population, hazard, and impact data. However, integrating this data is challenging due to varying scales and geographies. Often, the human element is overlooked in these combinations. As an urban planner, I ensure that people, businesses, and jobs are well represented in models of community resilience.

Historically, we use census data from the US Census Bureau, including the decennial census and the American Community Survey, to provide a baseline for population. These data sets are complex and cover various geographies, with census tracts being the most common. Our approach involves disaggregating this information into housing units and linking these units to individual structures. This method helps us address issues related to air pollution and flooding in Southeast Texas, where boundaries of census tracts do not align with hazard boundaries. We simplify data integration through housing unit allocation, exploring how people are impacted by mappable hazards and building-level impacts.

The detailed data we use includes information on race, ethnicity, tenure status, income level, age, and sex within each housing unit. This is crucial because underserved communities often face greater hazard burdens and slower recovery. Addressing this issue requires good data integration and evidence. Our theoretical approach examines pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities before a disaster, the impact of the disaster, and the subsequent recovery process. While some populations recover quickly, others may not recover at all.

For example, in Port Arthur, Southeast Texas, we see a concentration of potential equity issues with low-income renters and minority populations. This area, known as the petrochemical capital of the United States, has many large oil refineries. Our data, represented by color-coded equity flags, helps community partners understand the population's poverty, income, and intersectional characteristics. This information is vital for addressing equity issues and improving community resilience. If you're interested, you can scan the QR code to run this model for any county in the United States.