Climate Resilience and Justice
We are threatened by increasing environmental risks due to climate change. The impact of climate change is often disproportionate, severely disrupting the wellbeing of marginalized populations. In the big picture, I will investigate equity and justice implications of disaster and climatic effects on infrastructure and livelihood. I use diverse computational tools to build just and inclusive environments. This research theme will ultimately raise awareness and contribute to climate policy development that prioritizes the wellbeing of vulnerable communities.
Triple exposure: low public housing quality, high flood risk, and social disadvantage
Under review
​
Socially marginalized populations are exposed to disproportionately high flood risks in the United States (U.S.). Among them, low-income, elderly, and disabled renters who rely on public housing may be particularly disadvantaged in areas where poor quality of public housing intersects with the growing risk of flood-related hazards. However, there is a limited understanding of the interactions between public housing quality, flood risk, and community sociodemographic fabric. To address this gap, we construct a panel dataset that combines public housing physical inspection scores from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), multiple measures of flood exposure and flood risk from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and sociodemographic data from the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2013 to 2019. Using random effects models, we find physical inspection scores for public housing tend to be significantly lower for facilities in floodplains and in areas with higher coastal and riverine flood risk, indicating overall poor public housing quality in the high flood risk zones. Moreover, public housing in communities with higher proportions of residents of color and higher proportions of residents of color living in poverty exhibit significantly lower inspection scores. These findings highlight interconnections between low public housing quality, high flood risk, and social disparity, particularly observed in New Jersey through spatial mapping. Our results point to a need for equity-centered policymaking to improve public housing infrastructure while also enhancing resilience to future floods.
