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Mobilizing heritage conservation as a tool for urban resilience: linkages and recommendations

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MOBILIZING HERITAGE CONSERVATION AS A TOOL FOR URBAN RESILIENCE:
LINKAGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
By
Kelsey Kaline
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION
May 2020
Copyright 2020 Kelsey Kaline
ii

Acknowledgements
First, I would like to acknowledge and thank my thesis committee and MHC
cohort. Everything is easier with the support of a team, and I am so thankful to have
been on this journey with friends and colleagues who not only had my back, but who did
so while working on significant projects of their own.
Second, I would like to thank to my family, who rooted me on from the start by
sending care packages, cheering me up on with phone calls, and by giving me so much
love. Thank you Mom, Bob, Colin, Steph and Kennedy, along with Kim, Rob, Jake,
Katey, and Brian.
Finally, a very special and specific thank you to my husband, Chris. His
unwavering support the past two years has buoyed my career aspirations, goals, and
spirit. His lunch packing skills are also truly legendary. Thanks for being my rock. Maybe
we should stop at three Master’s between us though? I love you.

iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................. v
List of Figures ...............................................................................................................vi
Abstract ......................................................................................................................... vii
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: The Need for Urban Resilience .................................................................. 4
Cities and Urbanization ................................................................................................ 4
Threats + Opportunities Facing Cities .......................................................................... 7
Cities and Resilience ................................................................................................. 12
Resilience Definitions ................................................................................................. 13
Sustainable Development Goals + Resilience Frameworks ....................................... 14
Chapter 2: Risks and Resilience Planning ................................................................ 19
Shocks Definition ....................................................................................................... 20
Stress Definition ......................................................................................................... 21
Understanding Local Risks ........................................................................................ 22
Heritage + Community Cohesion ............................................................................... 24
Resilience Planning ................................................................................................... 27
Missing Link- Heritage within Resilience: ................................................................... 29
Chapter 3: Heritage as a Benefit + Tool for Resilience ............................................ 30
Overview of Heritage ................................................................................................. 30
Benefits of Heritage ................................................................................................... 31
How Heritage Benefits Resiliency .............................................................................. 36
The Role of Heritage Conservation in Communities .................................................. 40
Conservation for Resilience: Current Opportunities + Tools ...................................... 41
Chapter 4: Case Study- Los Angeles, California ...................................................... 44
Shocks and Heritage: ................................................................................................. 50
Stresses + Heritage in Los Angeles ........................................................................... 53
Resilience Planning in Los Angeles ........................................................................... 53
Chapter 5: Recommendations for Building Heritage Resilience............................. 57
Goals + Action Items .................................................................................................. 57
iv
Financing Heritage Resilience: .................................................................................. 75
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 81
Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 84
v
List of Tables
Table 2.1: List of Shocks and Stresses ......................................................................... 21
Table 3.1: Use of Heritage and Tangible Economic Benefits ........................................ 34
Table 5.1: Goal One Action Items ................................................................................. 59
Table 5.2: Goal Two Action Items ................................................................................. 60
Table 5.3: Goal Three Action Items ............................................................................... 62
Table 5.4: Goal Four Action Items ................................................................................. 64
Table 5.5: Goal Five Action Items ................................................................................. 65
Table 5.6: Goal Six Action Items ................................................................................... 67
Table 5.7: Goal Seven Action Items .............................................................................. 68
Table 5.8: Goal Eight Action Items ................................................................................ 69
Table 5.9: Goal Nine Action Items ................................................................................. 72
Table 5.10: Goal Ten Action Items ................................................................................ 73
Table 5.11: Federal Funding Sources for Heritage Resilience ................................. 76-77
Table 5.12: State Funding Sources for Heritage Resilience .......................................... 78
Table 5.13: Local Funding Sources for Heritage Resilience .......................................... 78
Table 5.14: Other/Innovative Funding Sources for Heritage Resilience ........................ 79
Table 6.1: Baseline Actions for Heritage Resilience ...................................................... 82
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Urban Vs. Rural Breakdown, 1950 ................................................................ 6
Figure 1.2: Urban Vs Rural Breakdown, 2050 ................................................................. 6
Figure 1.3: Number of Recorded Natural Disaster Events by Year ................................. 9
Figure 1.4: United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals ........................................ 16
Figure 1.5: Building Blocks for Community Resilience Infographic ................................ 18
Figure 2.1: World Seismic Hazards by Population ......................................................... 20
Figure 4.1: Owner Vs. Renter Breakdown ..................................................................... 45
Figure 4.2: Los Angeles Shocks and Stresses .............................................................. 45
Figure 4.3: Faults in the Los Angeles Region ................................................................ 46
vii
Abstract
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and floods pose economic, social,
and environmental challenges to communities across the globe. Coupled with
increasing urbanization, climate change, and equity disparities, there are more people
than ever who are at risk. Building urban resilience, defined as “the capacity of
individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive,
adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they
experience” will allow cities to prosper while facing both expected and unimagined
challenges.
1

The trends of urbanization and climate change require new forms of planning and
policy as they relate to resilience. As cities establish initiatives around urban resilience,
such as Los Angeles’s Resilient LA strategy, heritage conservation should be included
and utilized as a tool to further this effort. Heritage conservation, or the process of
managing change in the built environment based on tangible and intangible cultural
aspects, offers economic, social, and environmental benefits. The principles of heritage
conservation naturally contribute to the resilience agenda, providing a sense of identity,
continuity, and localness, while strengthening social cohesion and allowing growth and
innovation. The process of heritage conservation often involves the management,
documentation, and conservation of the built environment such as buildings but also
includes landscapes, community values, and traditional customs.
While there are well-documented efforts to place heritage conservation within the
context of resilience, they have mostly sought only to protect the historic built
environment. The examples and recommendations presented in this thesis will focus on
how proactive inclusion and use of heritage conservation can offer co-benefits for
resilience beyond the physical environment. Using Los Angeles as a case study, this
thesis explores the link between heritage conservation and resilience, and displays the
potential benefits of mobilizing heritage within resilience frameworks.
1
100 Resilient Cities, “Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives” (Rockefeller Foundation, July 2019): 2-3,
http://100resilientcities.org/capstone-report/.
1
Introduction
On July 4, 2019 and July 5, 2019, 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes, respectively, rattled
the city of Ridgecrest in Southern California approximately 120 miles northeast of Los
Angeles.
2
Felt by thirty million people across the Southern California and Greater Los
Angeles region, the 7.1 earthquake lasted twelve seconds and disrupted power to over
6,000 households.
3
It was strong enough to send me, in a Downtown Los Angeles high
rise, ducking for cover under a desk, watching as my overhead lamps swung
dangerously close to the ceiling. These earthquakes represent the first major Southern
California earthquakes since the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which at a 6.7
magnitude, killed fifty-eight people, injured over 9,000 individuals, and caused nearly
$50 billion in damages.
4
From July to September of 2019, the two Ridgecrest quakes
triggered over 3,500 magnitude two or higher aftershocks - serving as a powerful
reminder that while we cannot manage plate tectonics, we do have control over how we
plan for and react to these kind of events.
While currently in the forefront of Southern Californian’s minds, earthquakes are
just one example of an environmental shock. Natural and man-made disasters such as
floods, wildfires, and war can devastate communities - not just in California, but also
across the globe. To ensure safety and health in the face of disasters, communities
must build urban resilience. Resilience, or resiliency, has become a popular buzzword
in the past decade. A quick Google search finds hundreds of articles promising it, and
various planning initiatives centered on it. Conversations about risk reduction do not
often relay or include a key component of resilience- community heritage and its
conservation.
When asked about heritage, often the discussions turn to sites with high art or
design components. Key architectural sites such as homes by Frank Lloyd Wright, or
2
United States Geological Survey and U.S Department of the Interior, “2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake
Sequence: July 4, 2019–July 16, 2019,” USGS.gov, accessed September 5, 2019,
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/2019-ridgecrest-earthquake-sequence-july-4-2019-july-16-2019.
3
USGS and USDOI, “2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake.”
4
William J. Petak and Shirin Elahi, “The Northridge Earthquake and its Social and Economic Impact,” July
2000: 3-5; Arwen Champion-Nicks, Misha Euceph, and Mary Knauf, “The Big One Is Coming To Southern
California. This Is Your Survival Guide,” Southern California Public Radio, accessed September 11, 2019,
https://the-big-one.scpr.org/stories.
2
infamous archaeological sites - such as Machu Picchu - are often the first that come to
mind. While heritage does encompass these monuments and sites, designed
landscapes, historic commercial cores, main streets, sites of difficult memory, and
vernacular forms of design are also some of it. In every community, there are features
that give them a distinctiveness and authenticity. These features, or cultural
touchstones, are a connection between place and people. This local distinctiveness is
both a physical, tangible thing and an invisible, intangible web of connections - places
are about the history, stories, architecture, art, food, behavior, natural features, and
traditions.
5
This multi-layered idea of cultural heritage often lends to a mixture of
physical spaces and connections that create a sense of history and continuity. In Los
Angeles, the 1928 Art-Deco City Hall is a beacon for many. Located on the city seal, the
building is a symbol of the city. While a city hall or other prominent buildings are easy to
recognize touchstones, a public plaza, small church, or long-standing restaurant can
also provide this same emotional reaction to residents.
Places have the power to bring people together and drive emotional responses.
6

Interrelationships of physical form, spatial organization, setting, and values give
communities distinctive heritage.
7
Heritage is often tangible, existing in historic sites,
buildings, archives, monuments, and museums. It can also be found in landscapes and
the natural features that make up our communities, or in intangible aspects such as
customs, music, and folklore.
8
All forms of heritage, whether tangible or intangible, offer
benefits to communities.
If heritage is discussed in the context of resilience, it is usually because a site is
at risk due to climate change and natural disasters. While this kind of risk is important to
deal with, the discourse also shows that cultural heritage has the ability to support
resilience and broadly reduce disaster risks.
9
Recent years have shown an increased
5
Peter Davis and Wan-chen Liu, “Heritage, Local Communities and the Safeguarding of ‘Spirit of Place’
in Taiwan,” n.d.,10.
6
Stephanie Meeks, The Past and Future City: How Historic Preservation Is Reviving America’s
Communities (Island Press, 2016), 1-5.
7
Thompson Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, American Association for State and Local History
(Washington, D.C: National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), 1-2.
8
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 1-2.
9
Manas Murthy, “Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks”
(Geneva: ICOMOS/ICORP, May 22, 2013), 13-15.
3
commitment to protecting heritage resources, as showcased by conferences dedicated
to climate change and heritage. Although more conversations are happening about the
risks to heritage, actual deployed initiatives mobilizing heritage have yet to been seen
on a broad scale. Leveraging heritage as a tool for resilience can bring together
heritage professionals, community members, and the resilience field – mainstreaming
the link between disaster risk reduction and heritage management.
This thesis examines the opportunity to include heritage in our toolkit for urban
resilience by highlighting the linkages between social cohesion, history, and the built
environment. While naturally complementary, a discussion of these linkages has been
notably absent from the discussions of local resilience planning and heritage
conservation. Partnerships between heritage professionals, local planners, and
community members can further resilience and risk reduction efforts.
The following chapters show the need for resilience and suggest a range of
methods and tools that focus on the assets of heritage. The first chapter looks at the
trends of urbanization and the growing need for resilience planning. The threats and
opportunities that face cities, the various definitions of resilience and large resilience
frameworks will be introduced. The second chapter gives an overview of what risks to
cities look like, along with how cities can continue to thrive while facing these
challenges. The missing link of heritage within established resilience planning is
addressed. The third chapter will take a deeper dive into the benefits of heritage for
communities. Themes, principles, and co-benefits of saving and protecting heritage will
be outlined. The fourth chapter will utilize Los Angeles as a case study for the theory
outlined while providing real examples for recommendations moving forward. Resilient
LA will offer the context for these - showing how it can fit in already established plans, to
strengthen goals already created and backed. The final section will focus on
recommendations and action-items that can be tailored to various cities and situations.
4
Chapter 1: The Need for Urban Resilience
Climate change and urbanization issues have defined the planning and
conservation professions in the past decade. As people continue to move from rural
areas to cities, a larger percentage of the increasingly interconnected global population
are at a greater risk from natural and manmade disasters.
10
This chapter will highlight
the context of these trends, discuss threats and opportunities that face cities, and define
urban resilience.
Cities and Urbanization
As of 2018, 55% of the global population lives in a densely developed, urban,
area. By 2050, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs projects
that this percentage will reach nearly 70%.
11
(Figure 1.1, 1.2) As the world has
urbanized, cities have become the nuclei of the global economy, today contributing 80%
of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
12
Although major contributors to the
economy, cities are vulnerable to challenges that are magnified through regional
urbanization, such as pollution and flooding. Beyond this, climate change, rapid
population growth, unchecked development, aging infrastructure (such as water pipes,
roads, and electricity networks) along with growing social and economic inequities pose
considerable obstacles to the longevity and stability of cities. Events such as natural
disasters, economic recessions, and political unrest can exacerbate these challenges.
These issues are not just about the individual city – as a whole, we are interdependent
on the global market. A failed crop yield in one region due to flooding will influence trade
for other countries, raising food prices around the globe, and threatening the livelihood
and economy of the affected country. As we continue to urbanize, we must recognize
how cities function in order to understand the risks that are associated with it.
Cities rely on a complex series of networks. Infrastructure, information systems,
building typologies, and people are unique to individual locations, yet are all interrelated
to each other. While broad themes of culture, connectedness, and capital are all
10
Urban meaning in, relating to, or characteristic of a town or city.
11
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “World Urbanization
Prospects- 2018 Revision,” 2018, xix-1.
12
United Nations, “World Urbanization,” xix-1.
5
building blocks of cities, the specifics of these are unique to individual locales. This is a
benefit, as it provides the kind of diversity that creates the type of world heritage that
drives social cohesion, tourism, and innovation.
13
It can also be a detriment to resilience
frameworks that aim to create best practices that cannot work for every location.
Along with people, cities are home to private and public spaces - including those
for government, education, religion, services, and commercial needs.
14
These spaces
provide “focus” for citizens and their community, establishing emotional roots in their
physical location, while creating significance and landmarks in time and space.
15
The
physical and intangible environment of places often provides a reassuring link between
the past and future, a concept sometimes referred to as continuity.
16
Most city residents
identify strongly with “their” city, neighborhood, and the cultural landmarks (or
touchstones) they contain, making the conservation of such heritage spaces pivotal to
urban resilience.
17

13
Cornelius Holtorf, “Embracing Change: How Cultural Resilience Is Increased through Cultural
Heritage,” World Archaeology 50, no. 4 (August 8, 2018): 639–40,
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1510340.
14
Manas Murthy, Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks, 2013:
20-21.
15
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 639–40.
15
Murthy, Heritage and Resilience, 20-21.
16
This concept is explored in Chapter 3 around social cohesion.
17
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 642.
6
Figure 1.1: Urban Vs. Rural Breakdown utilizing data from 1950. Graphic from Hannah Ritchie and Max
Roser, “Urbanization: Our World in Data,” Our World in Data, June 13, 2018,
https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization.
Figure 1.2: Urban Vs. Rural Breakdown, 2050. Graphic from Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser,
“Urbanization: Our World in Data,” Our World in Data, June 13, 2018,
https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization.
7
Threats + Opportunities Facing Cities
Shocks and stresses along with other unforeseen disruptions can have rippling
effects across the interconnected systems of a city, risking failure of functionality at
varying levels.
18
For example, rapid urbanization can lead to development in areas such
as hillsides or 100-year floodplains- risking erosion, mudslides, and large flooding
events. Urbanization may increase the demolition of existing historic fabric, an
irreversible change. Population growth can increase density, putting pressure on the
existing water and electrical systems, roadways, and education systems. Often cities
face issues of sprawl as well, leading to a decentralized and car-centric system that can
be even more vulnerable to shocks and stresses. Beyond damaging buildings, shocks
and stresses can damage water infrastructure, along with road and information
systems, compounding initial damage with fires and circulation issues. These type of
issues can stretch on, and include consequences such as loss of economy due to lack
of transportation, degrading sanitation, and fear. Impacts from natural and manmade
shocks and stresses are disproportionally borne by cities, instead of rural areas whose
systems are less interconnected.
19
The main threats to urban resiliency come from
climate change, urbanization and population growth, along with natural disasters, while
opportunities come from trade and commerce, tourism, heritage and culture, and the
science/technology sector.
20

Urban Threats: In the past decade, we have seen unprecedented damage from
natural disasters, including the 2011 Fukushima Disaster, 2017’s Hurricane Maria that
hit Puerto Rico, and the 2018 Paradise and Woolsey Fire in California. (Figure 1.3)
Natural disasters are uncontrollable, damage causing events that can be
meteorological, hydrological, climatological, or geophysical.
21
Anything from a hurricane,
heat wave or blizzard classifies as a natural disaster.
22
The category does not have to
be weather-induced, adding for example, wildfires, volcano eruption, and earthquakes
18
Shocks and stresses along with their definitions are discussed in depth in Chapter 2.
19
Murthy, Heritage and Resilience, 4-5.
20
Specific shocks and stresses will be discussed in depth in Chapter 4.
21
Jaimie Hicks Masterson, Water Peacock, and Shannon Van Zandt, Planning for Community Resilience
(Island Press, 2014): 4.
22
Masterson, Peacock, and Van Zandt, Planning for Community Resilience, 5.
8
into the mix.
23
These types of events can be both deadly and extremely costly. In the
aftermath of disasters food, water, fuel, and medical supplies can run in short supply,
with the local economy halted and residents struggling to remain in their homes.
24
We
are experiencing a greater number of these events, exacerbated by climate change,
while recording an uptick in their severity or magnitude.
The severity of damage from disasters relates to the built environment and city
systems such as infrastructure, early warning systems, building codes, and social
vulnerability. The focus of many disaster efforts have been on the immediate response,
recovery, or general preparedness to disasters, and how people prepare for the actual
individual event, instead of how citizens and communities can mitigate and recover from
the trend of these disasters. We rely on first responders, agencies such as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or organizations such as the Red Cross to
come provide aid – not realizing that their work could be lessened and streamlined with
more holistic planning that could proactively result in fewer displaced people, or less
infrastructure disruptions or failures. General preparedness efforts by individuals and
cities address these challenges in advance, allowing the focus to move from recovery,
to adaptation and resiliency.
2018 was one of the top-five costliest years for natural disasters worldwide.
Response, loss and recovery cost $160 billion U.S dollars (USD), with Hurricane
Michael (United States landfall) and the California wildfire season being two of the
biggest economic losses. The California wildfires (summer-fall 2018) alone cost over
$24 billion USD. Besides their immediate short-term devastation, natural disasters can
slow regional economic growth for years, cripple critical infrastructure networks such as
highways, utilities and bridges, and force home and business owners without adequate
insurance to relocate.
25

23
Masterson, Peacock, and Van Zandt, Planning for Community Resilience, 6.
24
Kimberly Amadeo, “Natural Disasters Are a Bigger Threat than Terrorism,” The Balance, accessed
September 5, 2019, https://www.thebalance.com/cost-of-natural-disasters-3306214.
25
Amadeo, “Natural Disasters Are a Bigger Threat than Terrorism.”
9
Figure 1.3: Number of Recorded Natural Disaster Events. Graphic from Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser,
“Urbanization: Our World in Data,” Our World in Data, June 13, 2018,
https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization.
Climate change, or the global warming of the atmosphere due to greenhouse gas
emissions from fossil fuel use, along with deforestation, creates more extreme weather
and increases the frequency and severity of natural disaster events. Sometimes this is
through changing weather patterns that may leave areas wetter or drier than normal, but
also drives hurricanes through warmer waters, sea level rise through melting ice caps,
and wildfires through drought and extreme heat conditions.
26
The impacts of these
changes are already damaging infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems,
including aspects of community heritage, which provide essential benefits and quality of
life to communities.
27

The changing climate is creating new risks even while it exacerbates existing
vulnerabilities and multiplies traditional threats. Rapid urbanization, wealth inequality,
globalization and the attendant loss of cultural identity present grave threats to the well-
26
ICOMOS, Climate Change and Heritage Working Group. “The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural
Heritage in Climate Action.” Publication. ICOMOS:Paris: ICOMOS, July 2019: 7-10,
https://www.icomos.org/en/about-the-centre/publicationsdoc/77-articles-en-francais/59522-icomos-
releases-future-of-our-pasts-report-to-increase-engagement-of-cultural-heritage-in-climate-action.
27
ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action,” 9-10.
10
being of urban communities.
28
The science behind climate change shows the severity
and urgency of the problem - notably the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018, the Special Report on Global Warming, which outlined
the current understanding of climate change science.
29
According to the IPCC, we have
already passed the threshold for one degree Celsius warming patterns, and we are
likely to reach another half degree of warming by 2040. If emissions remain (or grow),
warming is projected to hit two full degree Celsius by 2065.
30
The impacts of one to two
degrees Celsius warming range from sea level rise to extreme drought, and will create
refugee emergencies, food and water shortages, and mass displacement. It has been
projected that due to the levels of flooding and sea level rise in the top one hundred
coastal cities there will be financial losses of at least $1 trillion or more per year by
2050, assuming there is no further investment in adaptation or mitigation.
31

Opportunities within Cities: Although facing challenges associated with social
vulnerabilities, population growth, and climate change, cities also afford opportunities for
combating these challenges through meaningful improvements and risk reduction
measures that could affect the lives of millions.
32
Cities are the hub of trade and
commerce, and business sectors can provide more jobs and create a diverse economy
- all of which help with resilience measures. Cities also have the ability to utilize tourism
to their advantage, especially with a thriving, strong cultural identity and built
environment. When leveraged correctly, tourism can be a way to fund infrastructure
improvements, create jobs, and further strengthen social cohesion and idea exchanges.
Cities, and specifically urbanization within cities, can bring improvements in culture and
the sciences.
33

28
Amy Armstrong, “Planning for Resilience: Innovative Land Use Policies for Building a Resilient City,”
100 Resilient Cities, December 8, 2016: 7-9, http://www.100resilientcities.org/planning-for-resilience-
innovative-land-use-policies-for-building-a-resilient-city/.
29
IPCC. “Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C,” 2018: 5-9.
30
ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action,” 5-7.
31
IPCC. “Climate Change 2018 Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers.” Synthesis Report. IPCC,
2018: 2-3, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/.
32
100 Resilient Cities. “Cities Taking Action: How the 100RC Network Is Building Urban Resilience,” July
2017: 5-6.
33
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 642.
11
Another pivotal opportunity lies with physical and intangible heritage, a
component of culture. According to UNESCO,
In today’s interconnected world, culture's power to transform societies is clear. Its
diverse manifestations – from our cherished historic monuments and museums
to traditional practices and contemporary art forms – enrich our everyday lives in
countless ways. Heritage constitutes a source of identity and cohesion for
communities disrupted by bewildering change and economic instability. Creativity
contributes to building open, inclusive and pluralistic societies. Both heritage and
creativity lay the foundations for vibrant, innovative and prosperous knowledge
societies.
34

The maintenance of heritage, which includes the knowledge and uses of spaces it
contains, has the ability to enhance risk reduction. Heritage is a way for people to cope
with change in the environment and built environment. Culture and heritage within cities
also offer the opportunity to tap into traditional knowledge systems. Traditional
knowledge systems are the intangible knowledge, beliefs, and value systems of specific
places and people that have the ability to impact daily behaviors and decisions.
Global statistics of disaster risks and loss do not often include heritage, although
it is increasingly at risk. Natural and manmade disasters threaten all heritage - from
large historic cities, archaeological sites, and cultural landscapes to the cultural
touchstones of small towns.
35
Whether heritage is lost through an earthquake, a
targeted war act, or other shock event, its loss degrades social cohesion and
community wellbeing.
36
In 2015 in Palmyra, an ancient Syrian desert city, the Islamic
State took control from local villages, removing Palmyra from local use, damaging
tombs, and utilizing it in many ways as a shield, knowing that the community wouldn’t
34
UNESCO, “Protecting Our Heritage and Fostering Creativity,” UNESCO, May 13, 2013: 1-2,
https://en.unesco.org/themes/protecting-our-heritage-and-fostering-creativity.
35
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 645.
36
The blog “Vanishing Places” by Lynn Englum offers specific examples of sea level rise impacts on
island communities – where entire communities are being impacted by flooding, and land loss from
climate change. https://www.vanishingplaces.org/blog; Other reading on the impact of heritage in and
after war can be found in “The Heritage of War” by Martin Gegner.
12
risk damaging it through conflict.
37
Although the loss of heritage can be a shock (or a
stress), protecting and promoting heritage can be used as a tool to further resilience.
Cities and Resilience
We have the data to show that the world is getting denser and more
interconnected. With the addition of natural and man-made disasters, health epidemics
and humanitarian crises, all playing out in the shadow of worsening climate change,
resilience planning is a necessary and urgent step to improve reduction worldwide. This
scale of planning will need to respond to challenges that are often unforeseen and
unexpected, not only in timing, but sometimes in the actual category of event. Usually
planning is reactive - but typical “siloed” decision-making will not provide the flexibility
essential for communities to plan for multiple future scenarios.
38
Urban resilience needs
to be built upon a strong base or a city’s “underlying fabric. Stresses, which exacerbate
shock events, damage a city’s stability. Foundations of social cohesion, social capital, a
diverse economy, and redundant infrastructure work together to protect from the worst
of catastrophic events. The benefit of this type of planning is that the benefits do not
appear just during shocks or stressor events - a city can improve its general well-being
through resilience measures.
An often-cited example of weakened resilience is the 2005 Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane, was not devastating just for rain or wind, but rather
from the fallout after the storm. Chronic stresses in New Orleans, such as aging
infrastructure, economic inequality, racism, and poverty magnified the impacts of the
hurricane on the city. Although present before the storm made landfall, the shock of the
direct hurricane hit exposed the vulnerabilities resulting from these stressors. When
planning for events such as Hurricane Katrina, conversations need to include a variety
of stakeholders and departments, and focus on more than just the physical
infrastructure. A plan for strong infrastructure would have needed to address poverty
37
Stephen Stenning, “Destroying Cultural Heritage: More than Just Material Damage | British Council,”
The British Council, 2015, https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/destroying-cultural-heritage-
more-just-material-damage.
38
Siloed decision-making refers to planning decisions that are localized and disconnected- or made
without interdisciplinary discussion; 100 Resilient Cities, “Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives” (Rockefeller
Foundation, July 2019), http://100resilientcities.org/capstone-report/.
13
and well-being in New Orleans, just as emergency response plans needed to include
conversations about racism, and aging infrastructure. Combining themes may seem
inefficient, but it is necessary to address deep weaknesses and vulnerabilities that have
the potential to magnify impacts to catastrophic levels.
We need to think holistically when addressing our communities, and a resilience
lens can lead to stronger policies, along with projects that seek to undertake multiple
challenges. Strengthening the electrical grid can increase efficiency in the use of
resources, while helping to ensure less wildfires, and improving the speed or recovery
of services and utilities.
39
This is a theory known as the “resilience dividend” or the net
benefits (physical, social, cultural, and economic) that are accumulated when an
initiative is risk-aware, inclusive, and forward-looking.
40

Resilience Definitions
When talking about resilience, it is important to understand whom the resilience
planning actions are for, and what the resilience planning is preparing for.
41
In order to
broach these questions, it is useful to highlight the definitions of resilience, and establish
what the definition of resilience in this thesis is. Overall, the existing definitions of
resilience are relatively inconsistent though they touch on similar themes. Most of the
common definitions used by large international organizations such as UNESCO, the
World Bank, and the Rockefeller Foundation, ground their definitions in the necessary
ability to reduce and handle the wide breadth of shocks and stresses that are possible
in a city. 100 Resilient Cities, a former project of the Rockefeller Foundation, defines
urban resilience as “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses,
and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic
stresses and acute shocks they experience.”
42
The World Bank defines resilience as
39
Mary Comerio, “Resilience: Challenges and Opportunities” (17th U.S-Japan-New Zealand Workshop on
the Improvement of Structural Engineering and Resilience, Berkeley, California, 2018), 1–8,
https://www.atcouncil.org/docman/atc-15-16-papers/178-p3-02-comerio/file.
40
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 643; Comerio,“Resilience: Challenges and Opportunities,” 1–8.
41
Barbara Brown Wilson, Resilience for All: Striving for Equity Through Community-Driven Design (Island
Press, 2018): 1-2.
42
Sara Meerow, Joshua P. Newell, and Melissa Stults, “Defining Urban Resilience: A Review,”
Landscape and Urban Planning 147 (March 2016): 38–39,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.11.011.
14
“the ability of a system, entity, community, or person to adapt to a variety of changing
conditions and to withstand shocks while still maintaining its essential functions.”
43

Resilience should refer to the capacity to “maintain or quickly return to a system’s
desired functionality following a disruptive event (either natural or human induced),
which may not be predictable.”
44
A big component of this is managing risk, which also
requires looking at a city holistically. Understanding the interdependent systems of an
urban area is necessary to fully realize the potential impacts of various risks. A city must
understand dependencies and underlying systems, along with their potential reaction to
shocks and stresses, in order to make progress towards tailoring development and
projects to the resiliency and betterment of citizens. All citizens should benefit from
resilience, and a full risk analysis is important in all communities. Community-value
capture is necessary to ensure that inequities are resolved, needs are being met, and
heritage of all kinds is valued. Because resilience offers the chance to utilize the city
assets, the definition of urban resilience for this paper is based on a definition from a
report on social cohesion from the 100 Resilient Cities initiative.
Resilience is a forward-looking practice that finds multidisciplinary and innovative
solutions to address risks and vulnerabilities to strengthen the community fabric,
including people, places, and systems on “blue-sky” days to that they are better
prepared to withstand, adapt, and even thrive when faced with disruptions,
disasters or crisis events.
45

Sustainable Development Goals + Resilience Frameworks
At a global level, it is key to continue the development and strengthening of
resilience frameworks. This can be done through improving and promoting the sharing,
collaboration, and cooperation of research efforts, reports, tools and instruments
43
World Bank Group, Investing in Urban Resilience: Protecting and Promoting Development in a
Changing World (World Bank, 2016), https://doi.org/10.1596/25219.
44
World Bank Group and Independent Evaluation Group, “Building Urban Resilience: An Evaluation of
The World Bank Group’s Evolving Experience (2007-2017)” (Washington, D.C: World Bank, 2019): 2-3,
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/512891570052219295/pdf/Building-Urban-Resilience-An-
Evaluation-of-the-World-Bank-Groups-Evolving-Experience-2007-2017-An-Independent-Evaluation.pdf.
45
100 Resilient Cities. “Social Cohesion: A Practitioner’s Guide to Measurement Challenges and
Opportunities.” Rockefeller Foundation, June 2019: 5-6, http://100resilientcities.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/07/100RC-Report-Social-Cohesion-PDF.pdf.
15
between partners in the international business, financial, and planning spheres.
46

Coordination between global and regional efforts is crucial to creating and implementing
best practices, encouraging innovation and reducing risks worldwide.
47
Large and global
organizations, such as The United Nations, UNDRR, Rockefeller Foundation, IPCC,
ICOMOS, and UNESCO all reference the concept of resilience in various documents
and frameworks. These various organizations are all working towards disseminating
information, educating the public, and creating progress on issues relating to resiliency
and heritage conservation.
United Nations (U.N.): Adopted by U.N Member States in 2015, the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development provides a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for
people and the planet.”
48
The agenda focuses on seventeen Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), an “urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership.”
49

(Figure 1.4) The U.N. recognizes that eradicating poverty and disease must be
interwoven with strategies that improve education, reduce inequalities, and encourage
economic growth.
50
The most applicable goal to resiliency is Goal #11 which emphases
the growth of sustainable cities and communities.
51
The specific goals aims to, “Make
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”
52
While the U.N.
supports resiliency through other built environment and disaster reduction measures,
the sustainable development goals specifically recognizes and champions actions to
reduce the risk of disasters and increase resiliency.
United Nations Office for Disaster and Risk Reduction (UNDRR): This branch of
the U.N works towards the “substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses to ensure a
sustainable future.”
53
The UNDRR are the “custodians of the Sendai Framework,”
46
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction -
UNDRR,” UNISDR, October 5, 2019, https://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/sendai-framework.
47
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “Sendai Framework.”
48
United Nations Economic and Social Council. “Special Edition: Progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals: Report of the Secretary-General.” Report of the Secretary-General. United Nations,
July 2018. https://undocs.org/E/2019/68.
49
United Nations Economic and Social Council. “Special Edition.”
50
United Nations Economic and Social Council. “Special Edition.”
51
United Nations. “Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” Accessed September 6, 2019.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11.
52
United Nations. “Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.”
53
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “Sendai Framework.”
16
supporting the establishment and monitoring of the framework.
54
The Sendai
Framework is a voluntary, non-binding agreement, running from 2015-2030, which
recognizes that individual nation-states has the “primary role to reduce disaster risk but
that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government,
the private sector and other stakeholders.”
55

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
UNESCO, a division of the United Nations, has been a leader in developing policies
towards mitigating and managing the impacts of climate change on world heritage sites.
In 2006, under the guidance of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO prepared a
report on predicting the effects of climate change on historic sites, followed by a
compilation of case studies on climate change.
56
UNESCO is committed to preserving
world heritage, which is threatened by resiliency weaknesses.
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS): ICOMOS is an
“international, non-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation of
54
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “Sendai Framework.”
55
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, “Sendai Framework.”
56
UNESCO, “Protecting Our Heritage and Fostering Creativity,” 2-3.
Figure 1.4: United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Graphic by United Nations.
“Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” Accessed September 6, 2019.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11.
17
the world's monuments and sites.”
57
ICOMOS utilizes a wide network of experts
from historians, archaeologists, urban planners and engineers. ICOMOS is active
in over a hundred countries and operates twenty-eight different international
scientific committees. In July of 2019, ICOMOS released a report, “Future of Our
Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action” which discusses
benchmarks that can be used by those in the heritage conservation community.
These benchmarks are intended to measure and relay relevant projects that not
only deal with climate change threats, but also work as a tool for increasing
engagement with heritage sites and managers.
58
The report, intended in many
ways to serve as a vision statement, was prepared under the scientific leadership
of ICOMOS’s Climate Change and Heritage Working Group. The report informs
proposed updates of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s 2007 Policy
Document on the Impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage Sites, to develop
a roadmap for heritage organizations to communicate about climate change
issues, and to establish organized feedback to the scientific community on
research gaps and opportunities.
59

Rockefeller Foundation/ 100 Resilient Cities (100RC): In 2013, The Rockefeller
Foundation established the 100 Resilient Cities project to help more cities build
resilience to “the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of
the twenty-first century.”
60
Cities in the 100RC network were provided with the
resources necessary to develop a resilience strategy. Guidance was given on
establishing resilience roles at city, county, and state levels, such as Chief Resilience
Officers. 100RC also helped cities create and implement resilience strategies.
61

Although 100 Resilient Cities was formally ended in 2019, it is now known as the Global
Resilient Cities network.
57
ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts,” 5-10.
58
ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts,” 5-10.
59
ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts,” 10.
60
100 Resilient Cities. “Cities Taking Action: How the 100RC Network Is Building Urban Resilience,” July
2017: 1-5.
61
100 Resilient Cities, “Cities Taking Action.”
18
Through their case study and research work, 100 Resilient Cities, along with the
consulting firm, Arup, established the “City Resilience Framework” (CRF) which
recommends breaking resilience into four main themes: health & wellbeing, economy &
society, infrastructure & environment, and leadership & strategy.
62
By providing a lens to
understand the complex systems of cities, the CRF helps identify the drivers that
contribute to urban resilience.
63
(Figure 1.5) Looking at these drivers can help showcase
what improvements are working, highlight weaknesses, and identify potential action
items.
While these resilience frameworks are important for best practices, theory, and
education – most of resilience planning happens on local level, through resilience plans
and city actions. Because much of resiliency is dependent on the specific geography
and threats that are place-based, this also offers the chance for local culture and
heritage to be included in resilience planning.
62
The Rockefeller Foundation and ARUP, “City Resilience Framework,” December 2015: 1-2.
https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/report/city-resilience-framework/.
63
The Rockefeller Foundation and ARUP, “City Resilience Framework,” 1-2.
Figure 1.5: Building Blocks to Urban Resilience. Graphic by author.
19
Chapter 2: Risks and Resilience Planning
Risk, or exposure to potential harm, and the consequences of that harm, is a part
of our everyday lives.
64
How much risk we expect to face helps inform our daily
decisions along with public policy. While day-to-day risk is relatively easy to manage
through a mixture of instinctive and learned behaviors, successfully understanding and
dealing with more complex and long-term risks can be difficult.
65
Making choices about
risk management planning on an individual and community-wide scale requires a clear
understanding of risks and constant, flexible planning decisions. Risk management and
resilience planning has become more important as the risks facing cities have become
more visible and destructive.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, and flooding have become increasingly destructive,
from a financial and well-being perspective. While these events are unavoidable, they
are amplified by sea level rise and shifting climate patterns and exacerbated by past
decisions such as land use or building code standards. We may be certain that these
events will happen, but we can control how we plan for their impacts.
A comprehensive understanding of local risks is necessary for cities and
communities to build resiliency to these risk factors. Understanding risk, which crosses
multiple disciplines requires numerous diverse perspectives.
66
These perspectives
should include stakeholders and affected parties, including voices for future
generations.
67
These policy makers, business owners, community organizations and
citizens, can work with scientists and researchers to establish resilience in the face of
the increasingly destructive hazards.
The first step is to distinguish between disasters and hazards. Disasters, and
their subsequent level of destruction, are determined by the level of exposure and the
combination of the communities’ vulnerabilities and resilience.
68
Hazards, or the source
64
David Hassenzahl, Alena Edward, and Leonard Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience,”
InTeGrate, June 2019, https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/workshops/risk_resilience/what_is_rr.html.
65
Hassenzahl, Edward, and Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience.”
66
Hassenzahl, Edward, and Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience.”
67
Hassenzahl, Edward, and Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience.”
68
Hassenzahl, Edward, and Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience.”
20

of risk, do not automatically lead to disaster scenarios.
69
The types of hazards can
categorized through the system of shocks and stresses.
Shocks Definition
The term shock refers to a sudden (or acute) event that has immediate impacts.
70

Shocks are sudden events that threaten the immediate well-being of a community, such
as earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks. Shock events are typically short and
intense. The figure below illustrates a shock in the form of global earthquake risk
overlaid with population statistics. What this graphic illustrates is that seismic hazards,
while easily discerned by scientists, has a different risk variability based on how many
people will be impacted by the event. Specifically in the example of seismic hazards and
population, a city like Kathmandu – with a 2015 population of over a million people –
faces a higher impact level because of population than a city with only a few thousand.
Variable factors, such as population, building age, density, and weather can all change
how a shock interacts with a community.
Figure 2.1: World Seismic Hazards by Population. Graphic by Bonnie Berkowitz et al., “Nepal’s
Earthquake: Mapping Its Ripple Effect across Asia,” Washington Post, April 28, 2015,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/nepal-earthquake/.

69
Hassenzahl, Edward, and Berry, “What Do We Mean by Risk and Resilience.”
70
Lawrence Vale and Thomas Campanella, The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster
(Oxford University Press, 2005): 4-5.
21
Stress Definition
A stress is a chronic challenge that weakens natural, built, or human resources.
Stresses can amplify the effect of shocks, particularly for vulnerable populations.
71

Stresses are typically longer in duration or effect, and often of a lower and sustained
intensity. Stresses are typically grouped into physical and social categories. These can
include recurrent flooding, unemployment rates, economic inequality, pollution/air
quality, and even housing costs. The top three stresses for cities are usually identified
as aging infrastructure, drought/ water shortage, and environmental damage/ pollution.
72

Common Shocks and Stresses
The following table outlines common shocks and stresses that are seen in numerous
cities around the world.
Shocks Stresses
Disease Outbreak
Earthquakes
Flooding
Hazardous Materials Accident
Heat Wave/High Heat
Tornados
Wildfires
Hurricanes
Infrastructure Failure
Landslide
Power Outage
Riot or Civil Unrest
Terrorism
Volcanic Activity
Aging Infrastructure
Chronic Energy Shortages
Declining or Aging Population
Depletion of Natural Resources
Economic Shifts
Endemic Crime and Violence
Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Food Shortage
Globalization
High Unemployment
Insufficient Educational Infrastructure Homelessness
Lack of Affordable Housing
Overpopulation
Pollution or Environmental Degradation
Poor Health Infrastructure
Poor Transportation System
Precipitation Extremes (Flooding or Drought)
Sea Level Rise
Social Inequity
Urbanization
Table 2.1: List of Shocks and Stresses. Chart composed from lecture notes. Lecture by Marissa Aho,
Planning Studio Lecture, September 12, 2018.
71
City of Los Angeles Mayors Office. “Resilient Los Angeles.” Accessed July 16, 2019: 5-6,
https://www.lamayor.org/sites/g/files/wph446/f/page/file/Resilient%20Los%20Angeles.pdf.
72
100 Resilient Cities. “Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives.” Rockefeller Foundation, July 2019.
http://100resilientcities.org/capstone-report/.
22
Understanding Local Risks
The impacts of shocks and stresses can have devastating consequences, as
human life, infrastructure, economy, built environment, and heritage are all at risk. It can
take months and years to overcome these impacts. It took Puerto Rico eleven months
to restore electricity completely after Hurricane Maria, the longest continued power
outage in American history.
73
Beyond the eleven-month time frame, the poorest
communities on the island reportedly received restoration to their electricity on the latter
end of the timeframe.
74
Now, over two years later, Puerto Rico is struggling to repair
critical grid and bridge infrastructure, having received only a fraction of the promised
federal funding.
75
The impacts of disasters, such as Hurricane Maria, illustrate that
understanding and managing risk is about taking small everyday actions, alongside
large top-down projects. A report by The Milken Institute School of Public Health at The
George Washington University found that island officials had no "written, updated
agency crisis and emergency risk communication plans in place" prior to the storm,
which created delays and missteps in effectively distributing help, aid, and resources.
76

Prevention, preparation and timely reactions to disasters are the most effective
means of risk reduction. To get the most out of these methods though, a city must first
understand the likelihood, intensity, future risk and overall consequences of their
localized risk. A tsunami may be devastating to beach communities along the California
coast, but the likelihood is extremely low. On the other side, extreme heat events, while
have less overall consequences and intensity, occur regularly and will get worse as
climate change alters weather and climate patterns.
73
Umair Irfan, “Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Are in the Longest Blackout in US History,” Vox,
January 4, 2018, https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/30/16560212/puerto-rico-
longest-blackout-in-us-history-hurricane-maria-grid-electricity.
74
Milken Institute School of Public Health, “Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico” (Washington, D.C: The George Washington University, August 28, 2018),
https://publichealth.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/projects/PRstudy/Acertainment%20of%20the%2
0Estimated%20Excess%20Mortality%20from%20Hurricane%20Maria%20in%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf.
75
NBC New York, “A Year Later: A Look at Hurricane Maria and Its Aftermath,” Newspaper, NBC New
York, September 20, 2018, https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Hurricane-Maria-Storm-Year-Later-
Anniversary-Puerto-Rico-Island-US-Trump-Aftermath-493725371.html.
76
Milken Institute School of Public Health, “Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,” 1-2.
23
These ideas, or how likely, how soon, and how much damage, can help cities
make policy and program decisions on resilience planning. When working to reduce
risks, it is important to prioritize action items that can resolve unnecessary or magnifying
risks. Often times, these are tied with systemic equity issues and their effect of
disproportionate burdens.
Equity and Disproportionate Burdens: Vulnerable populations are the ones
highest at risk and bear the brunt when disaster strikes.
77
Damage caused by the
shocks may be indiscriminate, but the process of recovery is not. Whether pollution from
toxic waste, landfills, or power plants, environmental hazards are often
disproportionately placed near low-income and communities of color.
78
Because
environmental hazards weaken a community – through health, connectivity, or
economic opportunity, the impacts of a shock event can hit harder. If a shock event
occurs, financial insecurity often follows due to lost wages, emergency care or repairs.
These costs can push struggling families into poverty or homelessness.
79
The largest
job losses after disasters are often in service-related industries, often taken by those
without college degrees. Renting property versus owning your house or land can also
divide resilience recovery. When it comes to recovering from disaster, having wealth in
the first place is a key component to getting back to normal. Owning a home with
insurance provides a safety net for equity and stability.
80
Even if renters have renters
insurance, they will not be able to rebuild wealth like a homeowner.
According to a recent census, 72% of residents in the Los Angeles region are
people who do not identify as “white.”
81
Also shown was that over half of the population
is in a rental unit for their housing. Less than half of the people in L.A. County have a
77
Danielle Baussan and Cathleen Kelly, “3 Strategies for Building Equitable and Resilient Communities,”
Policy Institute, Center for American Progress, October 2017,
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2016/10/17/146243/3-strategies-for-building-
equitable-and-resilient-communities/.
78
California Office of Planning and Research, “General Plan Guidelines: Equitable and Resilient
Communities,” Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, July 31, 2017: 2-5; Baussan and Kelly, “3
Strategies for Building Equitable and Resilient Communities.”
79
California Office of Planning and Research, “General Plan Guidelines,” 4-5.
80
Barbara Brown Wilson, Resilience for All: Striving for Equity Through Community-Driven Design (Island
Press, 2018).
81
U.S Census Bureau, “American FactFinder - Results,” accessed September 6, 2019,
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF.
24
bachelor's degree. Adding to this, many do not have considerable savings, as they are
often spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
82
The categories that help
create individual resiliency – such as advanced education, assets such as land, and a
savings account – are notably absent from Los Angeles neighborhoods. The Federal
Reserve reports that blacks and latinos trail whites in home ownership, car ownership,
savings and income.
83
Shocks and stresses magnify these wealth gaps. For every $100
of wealth in White families, African American families hold just $5.
84

The risks and stresses from climate change, urbanization, and development have
exposed systemic issues that occur along racial and socioeconomic lines. Aside from
personal insurance and wealth, there are issues relating to zoning, planning, and
infrastructure. New infrastructure investments, along with the prioritization of repairs for
electricity and roads are often favored for white and/or middle class communities. Other
systemic issues such as where fresh food stores are located along with community
centers, schools, and hospitals all influence the resilience of communities.
Heritage + Community Cohesion
There is a range of potential risks facing cities, with an equal number of
challenges in addressing them. Facing these risks while encouraging a thriving
community necessitates community and social cohesion. A strong social fabric is a
necessary foundation for cities to begin to address issues of resilience.
Social Cohesion + Social Capital: Founded on the strength of social
relationships, social cohesion is characterized by the presence of trust and participation
among individuals within a community.
85
It also describes the sense of belonging, place
and connection felt by individuals in a community. Social cohesion takes account of the
82
City of Los Angeles Mayors Office, “Resilient Los Angeles,” Accessed July 16, 2019,
https://www.lamayor.org/sites/g/files/wph446/f/page/file/Resilient%20Los%20Angeles.pdf.
83
Lisa Dettling et al., “Recent Trends in Wealth-Holding by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from the Survey
of Consumer Finances” (Washington, D.C.: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2017),
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/recent-trends-in-wealth-holding-by-race-and-
ethnicity-evidence-from-the-survey-of-consumer-finances-20170927.htm.
84
Emily Badger, “Whites Have Huge Wealth Edge Over Blacks (but Don’t Know It),” The New York
Times, September 18, 2017, sec. The Upshot,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/18/upshot/black-white-wealth-gap-perceptions.html.
85
100 Resilient Cities, “Social Cohesion: A Practitioner’s Guide to Measurement Challenges and
Opportunities,” Rockefeller Foundation, June 2019, http://100resilientcities.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/07/100RC-Report-Social-Cohesion-PDF.pdf.
25
strength of relationships within and across demographic divides, ensuring that all
residents of a city or community are connected to one another and to the broader city
institutions. Social cohesion is based on the idea of social equity: without equal access
to resources and opportunities, it is possible to alienate groups of people, weakening
community networks, communication, and understanding.
86

Social capital describes the interpersonal networks of relationships among
people who live and work in a society, often based on common interests.
87
Inherently
neutral, social capital merely describes the strength and existence of relationships
between people. Social capital can bridge across demographic lines, bond
relationships, and link individuals, groups, and institutions.
88

Higher levels of social cohesion and positive social interactions strengthen the
overall fabric of the city, allowing communities to bounce back faster and rebuild more
efficiently post-disaster. When individuals or communities are not included in day-to-day
civil and social processes, they can be left out of critical disaster preparedness and
response planning/efforts, ultimately increasing their vulnerability. In Puerto Rico for
instance, reports showing that power had been restored to communities were only
disputed weeks later when listeners to a radio program called in to a report that their
community had not received power.
89

A higher level of social cohesion increases the likelihood of community members
connecting to formal government recovery processes as well as reaching out to one
another in the aftermath of a major disaster, allowing affected communities to regroup
faster following such an event. Where there are higher levels of trust and goodwill,
members of the community, as well as networks of multiple communities, can also work
together to better prepare for disasters ahead of time, thereby mitigating the worst
impacts.
86
100 Resilient Cities. “Social Cohesion.”
87
100 Resilient Cities, “Social Cohesion.”
88
Social cohesion is a broader concept that includes social capital. It encompasses not only the presence
of interpersonal relationships, but results in positive quality of relationships.
89
Miliken Institute School of Public Health, “Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,” 2-5.
26
A lack of social cohesion in a city can be a major stress unto itself. Sharp divides
among different urban populations, if left untouched, grow over time. The
marginalization of specific community groups deprives them of the opportunities and
resources they need to succeed. Both conditions lead to chronic inequities across a city,
placing a long-term stress on both affected communities and the larger city itself. In
addition, the lack of trust and goodwill between various community groups can lead to
civil unrest, the effects of which impact the city’s overall well-being. By overlooking the
importance of building social cohesion, cities expose themselves to greater vulnerability
to existing shocks, in addition to opening themselves up to new stresses. To truly build
urban resilience, cities must embrace tactics and initiatives that work to enhance social
cohesion at all levels – between individuals, within and across communities, and
citywide.
90

Loss of Heritage
Historic sites and cultural landscapes are significant for historical continuity and
community well-being. These places often represent environmental, social, and
economic values of their surrounding community. The loss of these places affect
individuals’ identity, sense of place and well-being. While a benefit to new and recent
building types, sustainability and resilience measures need to incorporate heritage
without risking its integrity. For instance, a measure that determines that all buildings
must meet a certain level of renewable energy generation or usage, may not take into
account the features of a historic building, or its benefits. Creating strategies that work
in tandem with historic building codes for example, could help align heritage and
sustainability goals.
Urbanization, development pressures, and lack of resource exposure puts
heritage at risk.
91
Disasters also pose a major threat to heritage. Every year, historical
properties, vernacular traditions, and heritage sites that hold significance on a local and
global level are lost to the destruction of disasters – both human and man-made.
Beyond these physical buildings, the destruction of cultural landscapes and natural
90
Specific tactics are discussed in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.
91
Manas Murthy, Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks, 2013:
20-21.
27
heritage areas is occurring at an even faster rate, and with them irreplaceable
ecosystem links, and cultural associations.
92

Disasters can also hurt the flow of traditional knowledge by impacting the built
and social environments. This can lead to the loss of the practices, skills and crafts that
ensure the continuity and conservation of cultural heritage for community members and
indigenous populations.
93
The vulnerabilities from disasters to historic sites and
heritage must be identified, assessed, and monitored, to inform the most effective and
appropriate risk management strategies.
94

Resilience Planning
Resilience planning is the formal planning process that attempts to understand
risks and mitigate potential hazard impacts. While planners have focused for the most
part on improving the safety and performance of individual buildings and infrastructure
in the event of a disaster, there has been a growing recognition over the past decade of
the value of ‘community resilience’ approaches.
95
We must recognize that the individual
performance of a building in a disaster does not equate to the recovery of a community
following a disaster. We must first focus on community priorities and available resources
and translate this information down to the necessary building and infrastructure
performance requirements in terms of the social and economic services they provide.
The evolution of resilience planning– from asset-specific to community- and
systems-based thinking, from physical to human dimensions, in both developing and
developed contexts – illustrates a continually broadening approach. In recent years,
there has been a push to leverage investments not only to reduce risk and the potential
for physical and economic loss from an acute shock, but also to create broader social,
92
“Cultural Heritage: Building Resilience to Natural Disasters,” Trends in the Sciences 22, no. 6 (2017):
88–89, https://doi.org/10.5363/tits.22.6_88.
93
World Heritage Committee, “Convention Concerning the Protection of The World Cultural and Natural
Heritage,” in Convention Concerning the Protection of The World Cultural and Natural Heritage (UNESCO
World Heritage Committee Thirty-First Session, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2007): 1–7,
http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2007/whc07-31com-72e.pdf.
94
World Heritage Committee, “Convention,” 1–7.
95
United Nations Economic and Social Council, “Special Edition: Progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals: Report of the Secretary-General,” Report of the Secretary-General, United Nations,
July 2018, https://undocs.org/E/2019/68.
28
environmental, and economic benefits that allow communities to better handle all sorts
of unanticipated shocks and stresses.
Resilience planning can be done at any scale, although is often housed within
local government.
96
While most cities do not have a dedicated team for resilience, 100
Resilient Cities (100RC), the former project of the Rockefeller Foundation, advocated
for a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), and an interdisciplinary steering committee, who
would work together to draft a resilience strategy.
97
Beyond city staff, CRO’s are also
established at the county level, such as in San Diego, and at the state level. Cities who
were not sponsored by 100RC have also established CRO’s such as in Santa Monica,
California. Once the stakeholders and staff have been identified, a resilience strategy
can be created.
According to the book, The Resilient City, and the 100 Resilient Cities project, a
good resilience strategy should be
 Reflective: using past experience to inform future decisions
 Resourceful: recognizing alternative ways to use resources
 Inclusive: prioritizing broad consultation to create a sense of shared
ownership in decision making
 Integrated: bring together a range of distinct systems and institutions
 Robust: well-conceived, constructed, and managed systems
 Redundant: spare capacity purposefully created to accommodate
disruption
 Flexible: willingness, ability to adopt alternative strategies in response to
changing circumstances
98
These types of strategies are important tools in helping cities create a plan and
understand their unique position among resilience.
96
Recently, more resilience planning has been done throughout county and state levels as well as within
city government.
97
100 Resilient Cities was a project by the Rockefeller Foundation. More information was given in
Chapter 1.
98
Lawrence Vale and Thomas Campanella, The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster
(Oxford University Press, 2005): 335-353; 100 Resilient Cities, “Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives”
(Rockefeller Foundation, July 2019): 5-10, http://100resilientcities.org/capstone-report/.
29
Missing Link- Heritage within Resilience:
Resilience strategies and adjacent policy do not always engage cultural heritage,
or have done so indirectly.
99
These methodologies often characterize the need for
transformative action as a social and technological problem whose solutions lie in
individual behavioral change and innovation in infrastructure. Such approaches tend to
ignore cultural considerations and often omit culture and heritage entirely. Initiatives
need to establish commitment to existing heritage, but also form new interdisciplinary
partnerships – helping implementation.
The historic environment (including natural environment) based on traditional
knowledge, historic sites, and rooted in a sense of place, reduces underlying
vulnerabilities that weaken resilience.
100
The challenge within resilience planning is how
to include and prioritize historic and current cultural assets within forward-thinking,
change-oriented frameworks. There is no need to pit heritage and resilience against
each other; they can both be benefited through partnership. Chapter 3 will explore how
heritage can be utilized as a tool in resilience, before moving into specific policy
recommendations.
99
This includes climate change policy and sustainability goals.
100
This concept is discussed in chapter 3.
30
Chapter 3: Heritage as a Benefit + Tool for Resilience
Places have the power to bring people together and drive emotional
responses.
101
Interrelationships of physical form, spatial organization, setting, and
values give communities distinctive heritage.
102
Heritage is often tangible, existing in
historic sites, buildings, archives, monuments, and museums. It can also be found in
landscapes and the natural features that make up our communities, or in intangible
aspects such as customs, storytelling, and sacred spaces.
103
All forms of heritage,
whether tangible or intangible, offer benefits to communities.
Overview of Heritage
Over time, the understanding and meaning of the word heritage in academic and
professional spheres has evolved. While initially focused on single monuments and
historic sites identified as objects of high design or art, heritage is now understood to
encompass cultural landscapes, districts, and vernacular architecture. In recent years,
the idea of heritage has continued to expand to include intangible dimensions such as
traditional economic processes, events, and endemic social systems.
104
In general,
heritage can be broken into two binary categories, tangible heritage and intangible
heritage. Tangible, or built heritage, is the most recognizable form of heritage. Built
heritage includes historic buildings and sites, such as churches, residential homes,
warehouses, and office buildings. Built heritage helps retain the history of local areas
and their development, along with architecture.
105

Intangible heritage refers to the parts of community and society that do not exist
in brick and mortar. UNESCO defines intangible heritage as “social norms and
knowledge systems which have been transmitted from generation to generation
101
Stephanie Meeks, The Past and Future City: How Historic Preservation Is Reviving America’s
Communities (Island Press, 2016), 1-5.
102
Thompson Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, American Association for State and Local History
(Washington, D.C: National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), 1-2.
103
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 1-2.
104
Climate Change and Heritage Working Group ICOMOS, “The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural
Heritage in Climate Action,” Publication (ICOMOS:Paris: ICOMOS, July 2019),
https://www.icomos.org/en/about-the-centre/publicationsdoc/77-articles-en-francais/59522-icomos-
releases-future-of-our-pasts-report-to-increase-engagement-of-cultural-heritage-in-climate-action, 2.
105
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 39.
31
providing communities and groups with a sense of identity and continuity.”
106
Intangible
heritage can be art or performance based, but also holds deeper significance within
social practices - such as value systems, beliefs, and language.
107

Intangible heritage also refers to cultural landscapes - or landscapes that have
been affected, shaped, or influenced by human behavior.
108
These can include
designed spaces, ethnographic landscapes, historic sites and vernacular landscapes.
109

Formal gardens, sacred land, presidential grounds, or even a simple Midwestern garage
could all be classified as cultural landscapes.
110
Through form, features and use,
cultural landscapes highlight evolving land uses and demonstrate the past and present
relationships of people to their natural surroundings.
111
Just like with historic buildings,
cultural landscapes have the ability to reveal information about an areas development
and use. Beyond this, cultural landscapes also provide “scenic, ecological, social, and
educational opportunities, which help individuals, communities and nations, understand
themselves.”
112

Heritage encompasses the full range of inherited objects, monuments, and
culture. This is important because our contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors
are drawn from our heritage.
113
What we decide to save, remember, or forget is an
important aspect of heritage and subject to active public reflection and discussion.
Benefits of Heritage
While heritage seems to focus entirely on the past, it establishes relevancy
between the past and the present, giving meaning to current and future actions.
114

106
UNESCO, “Protecting Our Heritage and Fostering Creativity,” UNESCO, May 13, 2013,
https://en.unesco.org/themes/protecting-our-heritage-and-fostering-creativity.
107
Climate Change and Heritage Working Group “The Future of Our Pasts,” 2-3.
108
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “About Cultural Landscapes,” TCLF.org, accessed September
25, 2019, https://tclf.org/places/about-cultural-landscapes.
109
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “About Cultural Landscapes.”
110
J.B Jackson introduces the idea of the “Domestication of the Garage” that was published in 1976. His
work, which was some of the earliest introductions to the concept of cultural landscapes deals with how
the design and use of our spaces showcases underlying values. A reprint with introduction can be found
here: https://placesjournal.org/article/j-b-jackson-the-domestication-of-the-garage/
111
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “About Cultural Landscapes.”
112
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “About Cultural Landscapes.”
113
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 1-2.
114
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 9.
32

Heritage is also a key trigger for both individual memory and collective memory, working
to give people and the larger collective community, identity.
115
Sites of difficult memory,
such as sites of police violence or labor strikes, are equally important in this endeavor.
In helping shape identity, heritage itself becomes a part of what a community is. The
expression of this identity shows others what is valued; it highlights values and
priorities.
116
These influenced priorities go on to play an important role in politics,
society, business, and individual worldview.
117
Heritage informs and influences public
debate and policy both directly and indirectly, giving it far-reaching effects. It can be an
element of long-range urban and regional planning.
118

Heritage is crucial for continuity - helping people feel more balanced, stable, and
healthy.
119
It also roots people in place, providing identity, pride, and place
attachment.
120
Identifying with space, or place identity, helps foster a sense of belonging
that can inform one’s experience of place. This then influences behaviors and
attitudes.
121
Attachment to a physical location can influence the decision making
process of community members. This combined with the concept of place identity can
further understanding of what the concept of “home” means to people, where and why
this happens, and why physical displacement is so traumatic.
122

Heritage conservation also supports environmental sustainability through
reducing energy costs and lowering environmental impacts associated with new
construction. Reusing historic buildings also can encourage healthy habits like walking,
biking, and taking public transit, while providing solutions to address accessibility,
displacement and lack of housing.
123
Heritage conservation avoids impacts of new

115
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 9-19.
116
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 72-75.
117
Climate Change and Heritage Working Group “The Future of Our Pasts,” 2-3.
118
Climate Change and Heritage Working Group “The Future of Our Pasts,” 2-5.
119
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 9.
120
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 2-9; Jawdat S. Goussous and Nessma A. Al-Hammadi, “Place
Attachment Assessment of a Heritage Place: A Case Study of the Roman Amphitheater in Downtown
Amman, Jordan,” Frontiers of Architectural Research 7, no. 1 (March 2018): 1–2,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2017.12.001.
121
Jen Jack Gieseking, William Mangold, and Cindi Katz, “Section 3: Place and Identity – The People,
Place, and Space Reader,” People, Place and Space Reader, 2014,
https://peopleplacespace.org/toc/section-3/.
122
Gieseking, Mangold, and Katz, “Section 3: Place and Identity.”
123
Meeks, The Past and Future City, 22-23.
33
construction, also allowing for the use of embodied energy instead of its loss – even
new “green” construction takes years to eclipse the embodied energy loss from
destroying an existing building.
124
Older, historic communities are often an existing
transportation corridor, which boast greater building density, and are close to
workplaces so that fuel consumption is minimized leading to more transit oriented and
sustainable development.
People learn from historic places and heritage, and they tend to learn information
that is not accessible to them in any other way. This type of experiential education helps
foster the lifelong appreciation of experiences, communities, architecture, and beauty.
125

Without direct learning experiences, we cannot absorb such as how people lived,
worked, raised families, and died.
126
In learning about the past, we learn about our
future and ourselves.
127

Heritage conservation supports a sound, sustainable, and vibrant economy.
Since heritage conservation often defines success through the preservation of cultural
values, symbols, and historical associations, it is often overlooked for its quantifiable
benefits.
128
Although heritage conservation and the non-use value of heritage can be
difficult to fully measure, use value, easements, foot traffic, and other studies can help
measure economic impacts. Tax credit programs, main street initiatives, and other
studies can help establish “how much” money is being reinvested in communities
because of heritage sites. The larger economic benefits from the promotion and
conservation of heritage need to be analyzed on a big picture scale. Heritage resources
have the potential to be a major component of local economies, providing job creation,
generating tourism, and by establishing economic stability.
124
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 78.
125
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 71-75.
126
Direct learning experience is the process of acquiring knowledge through hands-on or participatory
activities.
127
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 75.
128
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 103.
34

The following table shows various uses of heritage in communities and the
corresponding quantifiable benefit to the local economy.
Heritage Impact/Use Economic Benefits (Measurable)
Day-to-day operations of built heritage
facilities
Direct job creation
Multiplier economic impact
129

Establishment of heritage-based tourism Tourists stay longer, spend more money
Multiplier economic impact
Need for capital works projects (including
restoration, repair and maintenance of
tangible heritage)
Direct job creation (including specialized
work, construction)
Associated job creation (including
manufacturing, supply, distribution)
Increased Community Desirability +
Identity from strong heritage components
New job relocation
Attracts creative class + talent
Local citizen retention
Increase in health + wellness
Increased community investment
Establishment of historic districts

Adaptive reuse of existing structures
Stabilizes and supports property taxes

Historic districts maintain their real estate
value during times of devaluation or
economic downturns
Decrease in building demolition because
of re/continued use of older buildings
Use of embodied energy

Decrease in waste from demolition

Increase in TOD
130
, decrease in CO2
emissions
Table 3.1: Use of Heritage + Tangible Economic Benefits. Table by Author.
Showcased in the table, there are plenty of economic benefits from deciding to
utilize heritage resources. Studies confirm that heritage benefits local economies. A
2018 report from the National Park Service, about the Federal Historic Preservation Tax
Incentives Program, which promotes preservation and community revitalization through

129
Multiple studies have shown that spending money locally, and for local businesses, keeps money in
the community rather than allowing it to be sent elsewhere. This is called the multiplier effect, and
according to the American Independent Business Alliance, the multiplier is comprised of three elements
— the direct, indirect, and induced impacts. Direct impact is spending done by a business in the local
economy to operate the business, including inventory, utilities, equipment and pay to employees. Indirect
impact happens as dollars the local business spent at other area businesses re-circulate. Induced impact
refers to the additional consumer spending that happens as employees, business owners and others
spend their income in the local economy. More information can be found here:
http://www.howardpkg.com/blog/what-happens-when-you-buy-local
130
TOD= transit oriented developments with reduced or eliminated parking ratios.
35
building rehabilitation, supports this. Since 1976, the program has measured over
44,000 completed projects, while leveraging over $96 billion dollars in private
investments in the rehabilitation of historic properties.
131
Just during the fiscal year of
2018, the program oversaw $6.9 billion in private investment into historic properties –
money that is going directly into local communities. The Main Street initiatives – run
through Main Street America and Main Street Approach, are also a powerful economic
revitalization tool. From 1980 to 2018, the program has tracked $79 billion in public and
private community reinvestment with over 280,000 buildings rehabbed, 640,000 net jobs
added, and 143,000 net gain in businesses.
132

Beyond these larger federal and national programs, heritage impacts are traced
to state and local levels too. A report from the state of Colorado shows that the job
creation potential of historic preservation activities can be estimated at approximately
thirty-two new jobs per every $1 million spent on preservation projects.
133
From 1981 to
2010, preservation projects in the state of Colorado generated 34,400 jobs, and $843
million in household earnings.
134

Economic and sustainability benefits from heritage conservation are co-benefits,
or strategies that concurrently promote various community-benefit oriented goals while
preserving cultural significance. Co-benefits can ripple from heritage-oriented projects
such as adaptive reuse, which “develops existing buildings for new uses without
demolition or severe loss of historic character.”
135
The National Trust for Historic
Preservation’s research group, Preservation Green Lab released a report, Older,
Smaller, Better, in 2014 that highlights the benefits of reusing older buildings and
utilizing mixed-age blocks.
136
The report finds that older, mixed-use neighborhoods tend
131
National Park Service Technical Preservation Services, “Federal Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating
Historic Buildings Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018” (Washington, D.C: U.S Department of the Interior,
October 2019): 2-3. https://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives/taxdocs/tax-incentives-2018annual.pdf.
132
Main Street Research Center, “Main Street Impact - Main Street America,” Main Street America,
October 31, 2019, https://www.mainstreet.org/mainstreetimpact.
133
Tran Huu Tuan and Stale Navrud, “Capturing the Benefits of Preserving Cultural Heritage,” Journal of
Cultural Heritage 9, no. 3 (July 2008): 326–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2008.05.001.
134
Tuan and Navrud, “Capturing the Benefits of Preserving Cultural Heritage,” 326–37.
135
Meeks, The Past and Future City, 242.
136
National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Preservation Green Lab,” National Trust for Historic
Preservation, accessed September 30, 2019, http://forum.savingplaces.org/act/pgl.
36
to be more walkable with improved access to public transportation, both community
characteristics that help with resiliency.
137
Mixed age blocks have “significantly higher
Walk Score and Transit Score ratings than neighborhoods with large, new buildings”
according to the Preservation Green Lab report.
138
According to the Preservation Green
Lab’s research on historic mixed-use buildings in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and
Seattle, these buildings had statistically better performing businesses and a
“significantly higher proportion of non-chain restaurants and retailers.”
139
Historic
buildings are also linked to a “more diverse mix of residents from different age groups”,
small businesses, and higher density.
140

How Heritage Benefits Resiliency
While not directly mentioned in many resilience plans, conserving heritage
strengthens community resilience through the following methods.
Heritage Establishes Cultural Values + Identity: Heritage provides a source of
meaning and identity for individuals and communities.
141
When community members
draw meaning from their surroundings, they are more likely to be involved in community
decision-making such as local planning meetings or community groups.
142
These
linkages within a community, its social network, define the connectedness of a
community. Other positive effects can occur when a community is cohesive. For
example, the more voices that are heard in a community lead to better representation of
interests in city decisions. People in a connected community with a strong identity can
advocate for their needs, check on their neighbors during shock events or for general
137
Preservation Green Lab, “Older, Smaller, Better” (Washington, D.C: The National Trust for Historic
Preservation, May 2014).
138
Walk Score awards points based on time and distance to amenities. Walk Scores are consistently
higher for older and mixed-age blocks than areas with majority new development according to the report.
139
Preservation Green Lab, “Older, Smaller, Better.”
140
Preservation Green Lab, “Older, Smaller, Better.”
141
Elizabeth Longworth, “The Culture of Prevention:: Heritage and Resilience,” in Climate Change as a
Threat to Peace, ed. Sabine von Schorlemer and Sylvia Maus, Impacts on Cultural Heritage and Cultural
Diversity (Peter Lang AG, 2014), 119–26, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2t4cvp.11.
142
Sonny S. Patel et al., “What Do We Mean by ‘Community Resilience’? A Systematic Literature Review
of How It Is Defined in the Literature,” PLoS Currents 9 (February 1, 2017), 1-2,
https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.db775aff25efc5ac4f0660ad9c9f7db2.
37
welfare, and spread risk information. Less crime occurs when community members look
out for one another.
143

Depending on who you ask, every tangible building has a multitude of
significances, illustrating that at any point, a historic site, building, or object has a
number of different values.
144
A religious institution such as a church, for example,
offers spiritual value, as a place of religious worship for members. It also has historical
value because of both age and events that took place there. It can offer aesthetic value
because of its architectural style and beauty. Additionally, it displays economic value as
valuable real estate, and finally, it demonstrates political value as a symbol of a religious
system and social-order. Often, the different values that can be discerned from places
correspond to different stakeholders or community members.
145
Cultural values (which
are multivalent) and identity underlie the decisions that are made in the face of risk and
aftermath of disasters. Cultural values, through their instilling of pride and identity, also
inspire communities to take action.
146
Conserving heritage and preserving cultural
values can aid risk communication and recovery strategies, making it easier to
understand local motivations and areas of importance.
147

Heritage Increases Social Cohesion: Heritage brings people together through shared
values, memories, and the cultivation of collective purpose and common good.
Networks established through the use or conservation of heritage provide support and
access to collective community resources. Rebuilding a sense of community after
disasters is imperative, but can be done especially if there was already a strong sense
of community.
148

One of the major benefits of social cohesion is that strong networks can create a
system where neighbors help neighbors. In his book ‘Heat Wave’, Eric Klinenberg
illustrates the impact that a social capital deficit had for the health of Chicago’s North
143
Meeks, The Past and Future City, 34.
144
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage: Research Report” (Los
Angeles, California: The Getty Institute, 2002), 7-8.
https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/assessing.pdf.
145
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage,” 8-10.
146
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage,” 5-8.
147
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage,” 8-10.
148
Longworth, “The Culture of Prevention,” 119–126.
38

Lawndale neighborhood during a deadly heat wave in 1995.
149
The neighborhood of
Lawndale has a similar demographic profile of low-income seniors who live alone to the
bordering community of Little Village. Little Village, which has lots of foot traffic along
with active businesses created social connections through shopping and walking. On
the other hand, North Lawndale’s lack of commercial activity and increased instances of
crime caused it residents to stay inside more, fostering the effect of isolation. The author
discusses these instances of relative isolation as one of the major contributing reasons
why a ten times higher death rate in North Lawndale than Little Village was documented
because of the heat wave impacts.
150

Community members turning to each other for help before and during an extreme
event contributes immensely toward minimizing the loss of life and damage to property.
These type of interactions also play a key role in quickly building back and returning to
normalcy following shock events.
Heritage Supports Community Decision-Making: When individuals or community
groups are not included in day-to-day civil and social processes, they run the risk of
being left out of critical disaster preparedness and response efforts, ultimately
increasing their vulnerability during times of emergency.
151
On the other hand, a higher
level of social cohesion increases the likelihood of community members connecting to
formal government recovery processes as well as reaching out to one another in the
aftermath of a major disaster, allowing affected communities to regroup faster following
such an event. Where there are higher levels of trust and goodwill, members of the
community, as well as networks of multiple communities, can also work together to
better prepare for disasters ahead of time, thereby mitigating the worst impacts.
152

Social cohesion is not only a key ingredient to better disaster preparedness and
response; the lack of social cohesion in a city can be a major stress unto itself. The
marginalization of specific community groups deprives them of the opportunities and
resources they need to succeed. Both conditions lead to chronic inequities across a city,

149
Eric Klinenberg, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2002): 1-10.
150
Klinenberg, Heat Wave, 1-10.
151
Eppich, “Community Resilience.”
152
100 Resilient Cities, “Social Cohesion.”
39

placing a long-term stress on both affected communities and the larger city itself. In
addition, the lack of trust and goodwill between various community groups can lead to
civil unrest, the effects of which affect the city’s overall well-being.
153

Heritage Protects Traditional Knowledge
154
: Traditional knowledge can play a role in
disaster prevention and mitigation. While traditional knowledge is often viewed as old or
ancient, knowledge, it can also be showcased in building typologies and disaster
recovery stories.
155
These types of knowledge bases build resiliency through lifestyles,
customs and traditional methods of construction. Lessons learned from past successes
and failures provide knowledge that can be used in restoration work, new construction,
and city planning.
156

For instance, coastal communities have become better not only at being able to
predict and track natural hazards, but also at utilizing proactive measures such as site
orientation or building methods (such as stilts or wind-rated structures).
157
When
traditional skills and practices are maintained and nurtured such as through the
conservation of buildings, and their utilization in building techniques, they can contribute
to resilient communities. Local artisan and construction crews are kept relevant through
community building that emphasis adaptive reuse and local building typologies. This
type of craftsman are often able to re-use materials, provide stable employment, and
reduce dependency on outside support – crucial for communities that may be rural or
cut off in the event of a disaster. Traditional knowledge transfer, such as through local
artisans and builders, utilizes cultural heritage to optimize available resources.
Heritage Benefits Mental Outlook: Mental outlook, or the attitudes, feelings, and
views that come from facing uncertainty, can be damaged after a disaster or when

153
100 Resilient Cities, “Social Cohesion.”
154
Defined in chapter 1, traditional knowledge refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of
indigenous and local communities around the world. Developed from experience gained over the
centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, traditional knowledge is often passed from
generation to generation through stories.
155
Rand Eppich, “Community Resilience, Cultural Identity & Heritage,” Practice Insights, accessed
September 27, 2019,
https://www.academia.edu/5044428/Community_Resilience_Cultural_Identity_and_Heritage.
156
Longworth, “The Culture of Prevention,” 119–126.
157
“Cultural Heritage: Building Resilience to Natural Disasters,” Trends in the Sciences 22, no. 6 (2017):
6_88-6_89, https://doi.org/10.5363/tits.22.6_88.
40
contemplating a future one. Cultural touchstones and a sense of familiarity can be
important when a community is trying to make decisions in the face of risk and
uncertainty. Having cultural and physical continuity can help with coping.
The Role of Heritage Conservation in Communities
Heritage is beneficial to communities, which has driven the field of heritage
conservation.
158
Heritage conservation is about managing change and helping to ensure
a smooth continuum between past, present, and future. It is about working to find new
uses for old buildings, ensuring that our landscapes reflect our society and values, and
working to honor and reflect upon the needs of current communities with the full
contours of our past – including sites of difficult memory.
159
Best practices in the field
begin with a clear understanding of the cultural significance of the place, the needs of its
stakeholders, and includes the development of policies to both assess risks and
manage change. What is conserved and the angle from which the past is interpreted
can have negative impacts on community heritage if the local community is not
included. Who makes decisions about “the past” and who is entitled to speak for past
generations is an important part of heritage conservation.
160

Because of its proven ability to benefit social cohesion, heritage conservation will
need to play a more prominent role within resilience planning in order to mobilize the
benefits from local heritage. In the United States, studies from the National Trust for
Historic Preservation identifies that over 90% of millennials are supportive of various
preservation efforts.
161
Despite this majority of approval from the younger generation,
the actual acts of preservation often encounter roadblocks and opposition. In booming
or lucrative real estate markets, numerous buildings (and land uses) are lost because
158
Heritage conservation is often referred to as historic preservation. This thesis uses the term heritage
conservation as it is more inclusive of all forms of heritage. The term conservation is preferred over
preservation as managed change is preferred to static preservation. For more discussion on these terms,
see https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/heritage/historic-preservation-vs-heritage-conservation.
159
Meeks, The Past and Future City, 21.
160
Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 39-41.
161
Millennials, also known as Generation Y (or simply Gen Y), are the demographic cohort born in the
mid-1980s through the mid-1990s; The National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Millennial Research
Report” Online Survey (Washington, D.C: The National Trust for Historic Preservation, June 2017),
https://savingplaces.org/press-center/media-resources/new-study-reveals-millennials-desire-to-connect-
with-historic-places#.XY_Gm0ZKgQx.
41

rapid investment creates conditions that value density and demolition, even if the
rehabilitation of buildings could also create density. This type of rapid development also
leads to issues with gentrification and community identity loss. “Cold” markets have the
opposite effect: valuable historic resources sit underutilized or empty because of low
demand for space, and/or because there are limited incentives to offset the financial
challenges of rehabilitation. The preservation movement has also struggled to
encompass the full American narrative. According to a research report by the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, only eight percent of current National Register sites and
only three percent of National Historic Landmarks represent the history or achievement
of people of color, women, or the LBGTQ community.
162

Conservation for Resilience: Current Opportunities + Tools
In order to use heritage for resilience efforts, we must first ensure that it is being
properly conserved. This can mean utilizing an abundance of caution with the
demolition or rapid development in existing historic or older neighborhoods, or ensuring
a diversity of represented historic sites. The following represent the opportunities within
resilience that the preservation field can engage with and respond to.
Assessing Risks to Resources: Before we can mobilize heritage we need to
understand what specific risks may undermine our heritage resources. Heritage is
endangered by environmental impacts but an additional serious threat to heritage is
simply lack of knowledge of what exists.
163
A survey of heritage resources would
provide a baseline understanding of what is extant in the community, and what
opportunities there could be to utilize these resources. Having knowledge or
information, not only about what resources exist but also about projections of economic
losses, and climate change can help stakeholders set priorities and make decisions.
Heritage managers, such as property owners or docents, have valuable information on
vulnerabilities and risks of tangible heritage. Surveys and documentation methods can
be deployed.

162
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Millennial Research Report”; Meeks, The Past and
Future City.
163
Vlatka Rajcic, “Risks and Resilience of Cultural Heritage Assets,” 2016, 1-2.
42

Risk Reduction Measures: In practical terms, we must plan how best to reduce
the risks to the heritage in communities, and then act on those plans. There are a
variety of questions that need to be posed to establish the most pressing risk, including
damage accumulation, budget restraints, cultural impact, and responsibility.
164
Taking
studies and projections about risk, and matching this information to the vulnerabilities of
heritage in a location is the best way to make a risk reduction strategy as it can
illuminate trends of risk and priorities.
165
Risk assessment can look beyond immediate
damage to consider the social and economic ramifications of the disruption to cities and
their heritage. Partners such as insurers, community organizations and think-tanks may
be able to help with this kind of forecasting.
Use of the Precautionary Principle: Heritage requires careful management by
present generations in order to assure access and enjoyment of these resources by
future generations. Heritage resources are unique and once lost they are lost forever.
This ‘uniqueness’ should prompt government, heritage professionals, and non-
governmental institutions to address the special aspects of cultural heritage when
seeking resilience.
The precautionary principle states that decisions that may lead to irreversible
change should be approached with caution, because of our inability to understand fully
the consequences of irreversible decisions.
166
Demolishing a building or harming
cultural heritage (such as a building) causes a loss that cannot be undone. While in
some circumstances these decisions must be made that damage heritage, all efforts
should be taken to use a higher level of caution and understanding in cases where
damage cannot be reversed.
167
Because heritage is a non-renewable item, it is
important that communities have a say in what is changed or removed. Heritage

164
Manas Murthy, Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks, 2013,
42.
165
Murthy, Heritage and Resilience, 42-43.
166
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage,” 106,
https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/assessing.pdf.
167
John Graham, “The Perils of the Precautionary Principle: Lessons from the American and European
Experience,” The Heritage Foundation, accessed December 4, 2019: 1-2,
https://www.heritage.org/government-regulation/report/the-perils-the-precautionary-principle-lessons-the-
american-and.
43
professionals have the tools to understand what is at risk of being lost and to advocate
on behalf of individuals.
Ensuring Accessibility: In order to be useful to community resilience, our heritage
must be accessible to all members of the community. Beyond this, the heritage must be
diverse and represent all members and narratives of the community. The material part
of that heritage, objects and sites, tells us of their activities, their perceptions, their skills,
and their ideas. Accessibility can look like school visits, discounted days, and new
interpretations of sites.
Evaluating Unintended Consequences: Negative trade-offs can arise when
resiliency planning or general urban planning/ development threatens traditional
practices and cultural resources and undermine heritage protection.
168
Examples of
such tensions include retrofitting of historic buildings for energy efficiency in ways that
disregard heritage values or development on sites with non-renewable cultural
landscapes or indigenous lands.
Creating Partnerships: The fields of planning and heritage conservation rely on
partnerships. Naturally, to link these two professions for resilience planning, new
partnerships need to be formed that include stakeholders at all levels. Since heritage
resources are often understood and cared for by their local community members, active
engagement with local organizations is an opportunity. Heritage managers, consultants,
local government and the private sector should also be brought into discussion.
169

Partnerships must grow out of shared experiences, places and needs. Capacities to
build these partnerships can provide valuable impetus for resilience planning with
heritage.
170

168
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage,” 105-107.
169
Murthy, Heritage and Resilience, 42.
170
Murthy, Heritage and Resilience, 42-45.
44

Chapter 4: Case Study- Los Angeles, California
As California’s most populous city, and the second-most populous city in the
country, Los Angeles is witness to the problems associated with urbanization and
population growth.
171
The Los Angeles region, according to the Southern California
Association of Governments in 2018, has a population estimated at 10,283,729, with a
density of nearly 7,000 people per square mile – the densest in the country.
172
The area
continues to grow at a rate of nearly 15% year over year.
173
Los Angeles is struggling
with the demands of a growing population and rapid urbanization – with stressors that
now include homelessness, lack of affordable housing, and growing economic
inequities. Los Angeles is an incredibly diverse city, home to people from over 140
countries with over 224 languages spoken. Los Angeles is primarily a city of renters,
with 62% of those residing in the city renting their house or apartment instead of owning
it.
174
(Figure 4.1)
The county of Los Angeles has a total of 4,084 square miles, of which 1,741 is
flat, and 1,875 square miles are mountainous - a landscape contoured by canyons,
hillsides, and valleys. Wildfires, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis are all
potential crisis events for Los Angeles. What’s more, the city’s size and diversity mean
that different neighborhoods are vulnerable to different events, and because of the city’s
level of inequality, some residents are much better equipped to handle disaster than
others.

171
County of Los Angeles. “Statistics.” County of Los Angeles. December 7, 2016.
https://www.lacounty.gov/government/geography-statistics/statistics/.
172
Southern California Association of Governments. “Southern California Association of Governments -
Local Profiles.” Southern California Association of Governments. Accessed August 9, 2019.
https://www.scag.ca.gov/DataAndTools/Pages/LocalProfiles.aspx.
173
Southern California Association of Governments, “Local Profiles”; Los Angeles Times Data Desk,
“Mapping L.A.” Los Angeles Times, Accessed September 6, 2019, http://maps.latimes.com/about/.
174
City of Los Angeles Mayors Office, “Resilient Los Angeles,” 6-7 Accessed July 16, 2019,
https://www.lamayor.org/sites/g/files/wph446/f/page/file/Resilient%20Los%20Angeles.pdf.
45

Figure 4.1: Los Angeles Renter vs Owner Occupied Units. Graphic by U.S Census Bureau, “American
FactFinder - Results,” accessed September 6, 2019,
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF.
Los Angeles Shocks and Stresses: With a diverse landscape and population, the City of
Los Angeles has a unique combination of shocks and stresses. The following graphic
created from information compiled from Resilient LA outlines the main list, by theme.
Two shocks and two stresses will be explored in further detail to illuminate the issues
facing the city, and how they relate to heritage.
Figure 4.2: Los Angeles Shocks and Stresses. Graphic from Resilient LA. City of Los Angeles Mayors
Office, “Resilient Los Angeles,” accessed July 16, 2019,
https://www.lamayor.org/sites/g/files/wph446/f/page/file/Resilient%20Los%20Angeles.pdf.
46

Shock 1: Earthquakes:
Earthquakes are a large part of Los Angeles’ identity. Fault lines have shaped
both the topography and industries of Los Angeles as we know it today; the mountains
and local oil industry were all created with the help of the fault lines that surround the
region. As an active earthquake area, almost every Angeleno lives in an area that can
expect to feel an earthquake once every few decades and violent shaking once every
approximate 150 years.
175
A United States Geological Survey (USGS) graphic showing
known fault lines in the region displays the potential for seismic activity, which includes
the Santa Monica, Hollywood, Palos Verdes, and the Newport/Inglewood Faults.
176

(Figure 4.3) The graphic does not indicate blind faults, which are not identifiable from
the surface, which are capable of producing major earthquakes, like Northridge in 1994.

Figure 4.3: Faults in the Los Angeles Region. Graphic by the U.S Geological Survey and California
Geological Survey, Quaternary Fault and Fold Database for the United States, 2006, Government,
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/qfaults/.

175
Arwen Champion-Nicks, Misha Euceph, and Mary Knauf, “The Big One Is Coming To Southern
California. This Is Your Survival Guide,” Southern California Public Radio, accessed September 11, 2019,
https://the-big-one.scpr.org/stories.
176
Champion-Nicks, Euceph, and Knauf, “The Big One Is Coming To Southern California.”
47

Earthquakes trigger effects that last far beyond the initial shaking. According to The
ShakeOut Scenario, a 2008 model of a 7.8 earthquake hitting along the southern San
Andreas fault on a non-windy day will cause
 1,800 deaths from the initial shaking and building damage
 1,600 fires to be ignited
 750 people to be trapped inside buildings with complete collapse
 270,000 people being displaced from their homes
 50,000 people needing emergency room or ambulatory care
177

A windy day will cause severe problems, allowing fires that start because of the
quake to spread quickly.
178
Major infrastructure networks such as electricity and water
will be unsafe at best and nonexistent at worst. Numerous pipelines such as water and
natural gas pipes cross over fault lines, including the San Andreas. An earthquake can
sever access to water and burst pipelines, causing fire, flooding, and limiting resources
for recovery. Fires will continue to spread without access to water. The pipes that are
not severed may be contaminated, and access to these pipelines to begin repairs may
be limited due to damage to bridges and roads.
179

According to the USGS, there is a 60% chance that there will be a major earthquake
measuring magnitude 6.7 or higher in the next thirty years.
180
Which fault will rupture is
impossible to predict with certainty. This complicates resilience planning because
different faults produce different risk scenarios. For example, the Palos Verdes Fault,
which runs along the Orange County coast, runs aground through the Port of Los
Angeles in Long Beach, California. The USGS released a report in 2017 that illustrated
a hypothetical 7.3 magnitude earthquake on the Palos Verdes Fault. This report showed
that this kind of earthquake would directly hit the Port infrastructure, killing at least 200

177
Champion-Nicks, Euceph, and Knauf, “The Big One Is Coming To Southern California.”; The
Earthquake Alliance, “The Great California ShakeOut - Southern San Andreas ShakeOut Scenario,” The
Great California ShakeOut, n.d, https://www.shakeout.org/california/scenario/.
178
Lucy Jones, The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (Anchor, 2018), 5-7.
179
Jones, The Big Ones, 5-7.
180
United States Geological Survey, and U.S Department of the Interior, “2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake
Sequence: July 4, 2019–July 16, 2019,” usgs.gov, accessed September 5, 2019.
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/2019-ridgecrest-earthquake-sequence-july-4-2019-july-16-2019.
48

individuals and damaging 2,000 buildings beyond use.
181
As the Port also sits in a
liquefaction zone, a major earthquake on this fault would cause a disruption in the local
and regional movement of goods, which includes 20% of all imported U.S. goods,
including food and medicine supplies.
182

Los Angeles also faces threats from non-ductile concrete and soft story building
stock. In previous earthquakes, there were high rates of collapse of “soft-story”
buildings, or multi-story building type with weak or open front walls (most commonly
buildings with tuck-under parking). The City of Los Angeles, the City of Santa Monica,
and the City of West Hollywood have all created mandatory retrofit programs. The City
of Los Angeles passed two ordinances in 2015 aimed at reducing structural deficiencies
through a feasible and achievable timeline. Buildings with sixteen or more units were
top priority for compliance with seismic retrofits, with buildings containing less than three
units excluded from the ordinance.
183
The city has also released interactive online maps
through its GIS Data Hub that allows community members to understand which
buildings have been sent compliance notices for seismic retrofits. A lot of classic Los
Angeles building typologies, such as dingbat apartments, are soft-story buildings - this
retrofit program is working to ensure the longevity of these unique heritage resources.
Shock 2: Wildfires
Wildfire is an annual yet growing threat in Los Angeles County. Wildfires,
sparked by unpredictable forces such as lightning, arson, cars, or campfires, can cause
widespread property devastation, claim human lives, and burn entire communities.
Wildfires are endemic to the environment in Southern California and can be beneficial,
providing the heat needed for seed germination, and restoring nutrients to the soil, both
which allow for the survival of our plant species. However, with modern development,
unplanned and unprescribed burns threaten communities and livelihoods. California’s

181
James F. Dolan, Eldon M Gath, Lisa B Grant, Mark Legg, Scott Lindvall, Karl Mueller, Michael Oskin,
et al. “Active Faults in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region,” n.d., 47.
182
Dolan, et al. “Active Faults in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region”; Liquefaction zones are areas
where the soil behaves similar to a liquid during earthquakes. The vibrations from ground shaking within a
mass of soil cause the soil particles to lose contact with one another. As a result, the soil has an inability
to support weight and can flow down very gentle slopes.
183
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, “Soft-Story Retrofit Program,” LADBS, n.d,
http://ladbs.org/services/core-services/plan-check-permit/plan-check-permit-special-
assistance/mandatory-retrofit-programs/soft-story-retrofit-program.
49

2018 wildfire season burned the most land in state history, with just the Mendocino
Complex Fire (July 2018) burning half a million acres.
184
Most devastating in 2018 was
the Camp Fire, which was responsible for the deaths of 88 individuals in the town of
Paradise and caused more than $16.5 billion in losses.
185
In Los Angeles, the Woolsey
Fire raged through the Malibu hills, killing three and destroying numerous homes.
Wildfires, which can fragment communities, also put strain on public resources including
the water supply and firefighters.
In response to the billions in losses, alongside increased fire risk, insurance
companies are beginning to refuse to renew homeowners insurance and hike rates for
those in fire-prone areas.
186
This is now forcing residents to look elsewhere for housing,
fracturing community cohesion and social networks. Those who do choose to stay in
their communities are risking their financial stability to have third party or multiple
insurance policies, or are risking not having insurance at all, which lowers their ability to
bounce back from a future fire or other hazard. Wildfires have impacts beyond the initial
fire. Wildfires can cause issues with water runoff, air quality, and wildlife habitats.
Recent burn areas are at severe risk of mudslides and landslides during the rainy
season, which tends to take place right after the peak of fire season in late
summer/early fall.
187
Wildfires damage property, ecosystems, public safety, and
threaten communities with mudslides. Overall health impacts can be far reaching,
including degradation of air quality, and water quality.
Wildfires are expected to get worse as climate change continues. A fire scenario
predictor, similar to the ShakeOut Scenario, predicts an increase in both “large fire
occurrences and total area burned, especially towards the latter half of this century.”
188

184
“Facts + Statistics: Wildfires | III,” Accessed September 14, 2019, https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-
statistics-wildfires.
185
“Wildfire Insurance Losses from November 2018 Blazes Top $12 Billion,” Accessed September 14,
2019, https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2019/release041-19.cfm.
186
California Department of Insurance (CDI), “New Data Shows Insurance Is Becoming Harder to Find as
a Result of Wildfires,” Press Release, California Department of Insurance, August 20, 2019,
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2019/release063-2019.cfm.
187
California Department of Conservation, “Post-Fire Debris Flow Facts,” CA.gov, n.d.
https://www.conservation.ca.gov/index/Pages/Fact-sheets/Post-Fire-Debris-Flow-Facts.aspx.
188
Anthony Leroy Westerling and UC Merced, “California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment,” n.d., iv-
2.
50

Models show that as global temperatures continue to rise, the land in Southern
California will grow more arid. This leads to a higher flammability in our forests and
flora, leading to more fires.
189
Ironically, if precipitation also increases, more rainfall in
the winter months will stimulate more chaparral growth in the spring, which is one of the
main fire fuels.
190

Shocks and Heritage:
Shocks such as earthquakes and wildfires are an obvious threat to local built
heritage. The 2019 Getty Fire in Los Angeles, which occurred during the writing of this
chapter, threatened the Getty Museum and research facilities while the Easy Fire
simultaneously threatened Reagan Presidential Library. The same fire also destroyed
numerous homes, including a few modern heritage resources that were in the process
of being restored or rehabbed. The 2018 Woolsey Fire in Malibu burned the Paramount
Ranch and the 1873 Sepulveda Adobe, one of the oldest structures in the area.
191

While shocks can be a risk to heritage, a strong sense of community and place
can also help communities feel confident in the recovery process, and even lessen the
impacts of shock events. In the 2018 Woolsey fire, community relief centers became
hubs for neighbors helping each other, and the rebuilding process was documented with
kindness of the surrounding community and neighbors. Often, community members who
were impacted by the fire would voice through social media, television, or newspaper
articles their history and narratives of the places – reinforcing the importance of the area
and value to the community.
192

Shocks such as earthquakes and wildfires can happen suddenly, with little
warning, and cause massive destruction. Resilience planning works to help
communities understand and mitigate their risks to these shocks. Emergency planning
and community preparation can often help minimize the cost to human life. Dealing with

189
Geospatial Innovation Facility, University of California, Berkeley, “Cal-Adapt Wildfire Tool,” UC
Berkeley, 2018, https://cal-adapt.org/tools/wildfire.
190
Westerling and UC Merced, “California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment,” iv-2.
191
Jenna Chandler, “Historic Adobe, Paramount Ranch Burn in Malibu Fire,” Curbed LA, November 11,
2018, https://la.curbed.com/2018/11/11/18085348/woolsey-fire-los-angeles-list-burned-buildings.
192
Brian Sonia-Wallace and Brian Sonia-Wallace, “Malibu Is Open Again — Now What?,” Rolling Stone
(blog), December 24, 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/malibu-rebuilding-woolsey-
fire-772461/.
51

local stresses such as aging infrastructure and access to housing can help further
resilience to these shocks.
Stress 1: Aging Infrastructure
A consequence of urbanization is aging and stressed infrastructure along with
ballooning maintenance costs. Infrastructure, which includes roadways, pipelines,
bridges, and utility networks, are critical to the efficient functioning of communities.
Roadways, for instance, provide access to and from emergency events, and allow for
flow of goods and people. Aging infrastructure can cause inefficiencies in transportation,
and in cases of disasters, fracture lines of transportation for help. In California, the
American Society of Civil Engineers gives our our bridge infrastructure a C-, rates our
roads as a D, and our transit infrastructure as a C-.
193
This generally means that our
infrastructure is aging and over-burdened.
Los Angeles roadways, known for crippling traffic, have a negative impact on
health, mental well-being, and economic potential of businesses. These all have an
impact on general community resiliency. Public transit in the city is often stuck in these
same mechanisms, with busses running behind, and stuck in traffic. The streetcar
system, dismantled in the 1960s, is currently being re-established, not without problems
getting potential riders to stations (first-mile, last-mile problems) and establishing a solid
base of riders.
Beyond roadways, at least 40% Los Angeles’s water supply is piped in through a
water distribution system of aqueducts and pipes from the Sierra Nevada mountains
into the city itself. This system, made up of aqueducts, pipes and levees, is aging. The
system supplies water to nearly twenty-five million people and over three million acres
of farmland, and could be cut off during a major shock such as an earthquake. The
American Society of Civil Engineers estimate that a major earthquake could interrupt
water service for up to a year, a cost of nearly $40 billion in lost water supplies and
economic production.
194
The Los Angeles Times has reported the installation of over

193
American Society of Civic Engineers Region 9, “Report Card for California Infrastructure,” Annual
Report, ASCE, October 2018: 2-3,
https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ASCEReport-CA.pdf.
194
American Society of Civil Engineers, “Report Card for California Infrastructure,” 2-5.
52

20% of the city's water pipes occurred before 1931, making them nearly 90 years old.
195

Since the pipes have an average lifespan of 100 years before reaching the end of their
“useful lives”, within the next decade large infrastructure improvements will need to
occur. Already, aging pipes are responsible for 50% of all water main leaks.
196
Water is
also critical during shocks such as a heat events, wildfires, and earthquakes. Aging
infrastructure can make these lifelines more susceptible to damage during a shock, and
leave the city more vulnerable.
Stress 2: Lack of Affordable Housing
California is one of the most expensive states to live in, a problem that is
exemplified by the contentious issue of affordable housing. The issue of “affordable”
housing is usually discussed in terms of Los Angeles’s homeless population, nearly
50,000 individuals (housed and unsheltered).
197
Affordable housing is ultimately about
all community members- including those with jobs and trying to keep their housing,
along with those that are unsheltered or without stable housing. The U.S Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the threshold of housing that costs no
more than 30% of a gross income as “affordable”.
198
Community members without safe,
secure and affordable housing options are kept from meeting their basic needs, and
face recurring financial, physical, and emotional losses.
Los Angeles is a city of renters, with the average cost of buying a condo or house
hovering at over half a million dollars regionally, and sitting at over $600,000 in the
City.
199
Even in the rental market, Los Angeles is ranked as one of the most
unaffordable cities in the country, with at least 60% of renters using more than 30% of
their household income for rent. Beyond this, over 30% of renters are considered
severely rent-burdened, paying more than 50% of their income for rent, living little

195
Ben Poston and Matt Stevens, “L.A.’s Aging Water Pipes; a $1-Billion Dilemma,” graphics.latimes.com,
February 15, 2015, https://graphics.latimes.com/la-aging-water-infrastructure/.
196
Poston and Stevens, “L.A’s Aging Water Pipes.”
197
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, “2016-2019 Homeless Count Data by Community,” Los
Angeles Homeless Services Authority: LAHSA, 2019. https://www.lahsa.org/dashboards?id=13-2019-
homeless-count-by-community-city&ref=hc.
198
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, “2016-2019 Homeless Count Data by Community.”
199
Elijah Chiland, “LA Home Prices Inch up to New All-Time High: $618K,” Curbed LA, July 26, 2019,
https://la.curbed.com/2019/7/26/8931996/los-angeles-median-home-price-record-high.
53

money for emergency expenses, insurance, transportation and medical care.
200
While
new housing is being constructed, costs of living are also increasing. When community
members can no longer afford to live in their area, they risk losing their social networks
and therefore social capital - a babysitter who will babysit local children for reduced
fees, for instance, or a neighbor who will check on you doing a power outage. These
types of interactions create and foster resilience and well-being. It is also important to
keep members in their community because of emergency preparedness. First
responders and other vital members of the community often cannot afford to where they
serve and work. Nurses, teachers, and firefighters for instance may not be able to afford
to live near their place of work. It is important to be able to get the basic help and
supplies we need back into a community after a shock event. One of the best ways to
do that is to ensure that people who work in certain communities have the opportunity to
reside there as well. Although not being met for many in the L.A area, housing is a basic
need. While there is no silver bullet solution for affordable housing, it is apparent that
this chronic stress is weakening communities and their overall resiliency.
Stresses + Heritage in Los Angeles
Stresses such as aging infrastructure and lack of affordable housing impact the
urban fabric of Los Angeles, weaken resilience, and undermine social capital. Aging
infrastructure can put undue pressure on lower-income communities who may rely on
public transit systems or others. The lack of investment in infrastructure can also leave
communities with less reinvestment or interest – limiting adaptive reuse or commercial
structures.
In Los Angeles, people are being forced to relocate outside of their communities
because of rising housing costs. Gentrification or displacement like this can fracture
social networks and remove the glue of traditional knowledges and heritage such as
informal economies, street life, and original uses of spaces.
Resilience Planning in Los Angeles
Los Angeles has chosen to face many of its resilience challenges head-on. The
city was an inaugural member of the 100 Resilient Cities network. Through this network,

200
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, “2016-2019 Homeless Count Data by Community.”
54

it hired its first Chief Resilience Officer. In order to create an action plan for resiliency,
the city brought a diverse team to the table. The conversations included professionals
and community members from City Departments, community organizations, and various
sector partners. The product of these interdisciplinary conversations and research was
Resilient LA, the city’s first resiliency strategy. Released on March 2, 2018, Resilient LA
focuses on five themes: leadership and engagement, disaster preparedness and
recovery, economic security, climate adaptation, and infrastructure modernization. The
actual plan includes 4 chapters, 15 goals, and 96 actions for implementation.
201

Resilient LA identifies a mix of short and long-term actions for building resilience that
are created under each of the themes. Public transit (light rail) expansions, thousands of
new housing units, and a dedicated push to end homelessness are all included.
Resilient LA is organized around four key chapters, throughout which, heritage
conservation can and should be interwoven.
1. Safe and Thriving Angelenos: This chapter of the resilience plan aims to build
the capacity of families and businesses, while securing individual and group
financial stability. This chapter also seeks to encourage equity and
stewardship in communities. One of the goals of this chapter is to create
additional pathways to employment for Los Angeles communities. Adaptive
reuse, and commercial corridor revitalization along old Los Angeles streetcar
routes and in historic districts such as Downtown Los Angeles are a natural fit
in the city. Ensuring that risk reduction education (another goal of the chapter)
creates separate sections for heritage resources or targeted information for
historic homeowners or those in historic districts is another action item that
can benefit heritage through the existing framework and agreed upon goals.
2. Strong and Connected Neighborhoods: This Resilient LA section sets goals to
help aid future disaster recovery efforts by strengthening and empowering
local communities – such as through empowering networks and
organizations. This chapter also focuses on reducing inequities in health and
wellness. Neighborhood organizations that are being advocated for here often

201
City of Los Angeles Mayors Office, “Resilient Los Angeles,” 1-5.
55

have knowledge or insight on what heritage resources are important or useful
to their community members. Los Angeles has identified neighborhood
planning groups that are helping with general plan updates and the
implementation of resilience actions. These groups should include heritage
professional and engage the community on local heritage as well. Education
about local heritage is also an important tool to encourage connectedness
and social cohesion in small settings.
3. Prepared and Responsive City: This chapter sets goals to integrate tools and
technologies to create equitable decision-making, and foster more efficient
disaster preparedness and recovery. It also encompasses modernizing aging
infrastructure and developing affordable housing. Heritage sites which are
threatened should be included in these action items. Historic plazas,
churches, and other community centers can also be pivotal in disaster
recovery, providing areas to gather, providing a sense of place, and serving
as spaces for operations or relief centers. Establishing separate information
for reducing risks to historic places or areas of importance to communities is
also a natural fit for this chapter. For instance, the Getty Museum, which is a
main cultural attraction in Los Angeles, and a hub of research, is protected
through state-of-the-art technology against wildfires. Using this as an
example, prioritizing safety measures for spaces that are important to cities
can help us prepare and respond to the shock events when they happen.
4. Pioneering and Collaborative Partner: This chapter brings ideas to establish
advocacy, infrastructure investments, and partnerships.
202
Information about
resiliency, especially heritage resiliency, should be shared with other partners
in a collaborative environment. Toronto, Mexico, and Wellington have all done
work to establish indigenous voices into their resiliency plans. Los Angeles
should seek out partners who are also working to include history and heritage
into resilience plans. Creative partnerships, such as those with community

202
City of Los Angeles Mayors Office, “Resilient Los Angeles,” 8-9.
56

groups, preservation and conservation professionals, and the arts and design
community can be beneficial.
Because Resilient LA is set up to have overarching goals that benefit Los
Angeles, heritage can fit easily into the existing structure. Examples such as the
adaptive reuse projects on Broadway, the continued use of Grand Central Market, the
safety measures at the Getty, and the communities who are all seeking designation as
historic districts are opportunities for resilience planning.
Heritage Opportunities
Los Angeles is diverse not only in its current population, but in heritage. Cultural
touchstones exist for every neighborhood and for the city at large. Chinatown, Little
Tokyo, Hollywood movie sets, and the rise of modernism in architecture (just to name a
few) all exist in the same sphere of heritage. The city even has a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, the Hollyhock House, near the neighborhood of Los Feliz. This diversity
of history and cultural heritage in Los Angeles, along with the diversity of opinions and
citizens today is an opportunity for resilience. Tourism, adaptive reuse, and community
education programs can all build off and utilize the rich history that L.A has to offer.

57

Chapter 5: Recommendations for Building Heritage Resilience
Who is ultimately responsible for a community’s resilience? Just using the term
“community resilience” can undermine the importance of individuals to the subject.
Local knowledge, community networks, economic investments, preparedness, and
mental outlook all come from a bottom-up approach that local government can help
foster and support. There is a need for resilience planning at every level of community -
from individuals to global frameworks and initiatives.
The following goals are recommendations that work to establish a baseline role
for heritage conservation in resilience planning. These recommendations, while often
aimed at local government, also speak to community groups and individuals. The
specific action items for each goal can be tailored to community needs. These actions
are meant to utilize the full extent of the existing heritage conservation toolkit, although
with more multi-sector collaboration and community input.
The success of resilience can often boil down to the number of partners that are
included in the planning and implementation process. Potential partners are outlined
alongside action items in the tables of action items in this chapter. These are purposely
left overarching as grants and funds are often location, state, or project-type specific.
Goals + Action Items
The recommendations include ten goals and their related action items.
1. Establish a Baseline Understanding + Assess Risks to Heritage
2. Build Adaptive Capacities + Reduce Risks to Heritage Resources
3. Establish Community Outreach + Heritage Education Programs
4. Cultivate Community Empowerment through Heritage
5. Include Heritage Experts + Community Members in Resilience Planning
6. Foster Partnerships at all Levels
7. Integrate Heritage Conservation into Existing Resilience Plans
8. Use Heritage as a Way to Further a People-Centered, Participatory Governance
9. Integrate Traditional Knowledge into Resilience Planning
10. Value Heritage as a Multi-faceted Resilience Building Tool
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Partners + Time Frames
Including heritage in resilience planning necessitates creating and expanding
partnerships. From a small individual scale to potential national partnerships, numerous
roles need to be filled. Every person involved in resilience building should work to
identify new potential partners that are missing from the discussions, plans, and
projects. The following goals offer opportunities for collaboration and partnerships
between the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors to include heritage within
resilience building.
Along with goals and action items, potential partners and time frames are
suggested. While not a comprehensive list of all partners that should be included in
resilience planning, all of these players could offer valuable insight and serve as a
starting point.
Public partner examples: Local government, state government, national
government, school districts, local public colleges, utility companies
Private partner examples: Engineering firms, architecture firms, construction
companies, heritage consulting firms, local businesses, tech companies, local
private universities
Nonprofit partner examples: Local historic societies, community advocacy groups
Community partner examples: Individual community members, community
groups, religious organizations, academics, local resilience planning groups
Local resilience planning groups (LRPG) are an envisioned committee of various local
stakeholders that can be established within neighborhoods or cities. These groups
could be built up from existing community activists and groups such as churches,
historic societies, youth organizations, and wildlife conservation organizations. The
benefit of LRPGs are to further understand the community’s experience of place, while
linking external resources and capacities with community-based initiatives. These
LRPG’s could also repair issues in communication flow between planning initiatives and
community members.
59

The time frames that are showcased represent estimated time for the completion
or implementation of action items.
Short-term: Five years or less to complete or implement.
Medium-term: Five to ten years to complete or implement.
Long-term: More than ten years to complete or implement.
Goal One: Establish a Baseline Understanding + Assess Risks to Heritage
A baseline understanding of what heritage resources exist, and what their unique assets
and vulnerabilities are, is the first step to utilizing said resources, or preventing their
loss.
Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
1.1: Complete a survey of
heritage resources
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Community members
Short-term
1.2: Establish a weighted
(prioritized) list of threats,
based on impacts and
probability
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Experts on Threats
Short-
Medium
term
1.3: Create a matrix of
established heritage
vulnerabilities and monitoring
indicators
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
Medium-
term
1.4: Monitor resources based
on vulnerability indicators
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Community Members
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Long-term
Table 5.1: Goal One - Action Items.
A physical survey is important to complete in order to understand what and
where these heritage resources may be. Beyond completing the survey process, it is
important to include both heritage professionals and community members in the survey
process, as resources can be overlooked without local knowledge. A survey can be
tailored to community wants and needs. For example, some communities may value
designed landscapes or historic districts more than other resources. The survey process
can be combined with existing data and information on shocks and stresses to create a
matrix of heritage vulnerabilities. The next step is to create monitoring indicators to be
deployed to ensure the safety and longevity of heritage resources.
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Goal Two: Build Adaptive Capacities + Reduce Risks to Heritage Resources
While a benefit to social cohesion and resilience, heritage is vulnerable to the
same risks as the larger built environment. Once a completed survey of heritage
resources is completed, and vulnerabilities identified, it is imperative to build adaptive
capacities of the resources.
Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
2.1: Combine technical and
engineering efforts to stabilize
heritage resources
 Engineering/Architecture
Firms
 Heritage Professionals
Medium-term
2.2: Create and/or Update
Historic Building Code Based
on Local Vulnerabilities
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
Medium-term
2.3: Encourage Continued or
Adaptive Use of Heritage
Resources
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 State Government
 Private Sector
Short-
Medium term
2.4: Strengthen surrounding
city infrastructure (storm water,
electrical grid, etc.)
 Local Government
 State + National Government
Medium-Long
Term
Table 5.2: Goal Two - Action Items.
Adaptive capacity, or the ability for resources to shift and respond to events, can
be encouraged through policy mandates, building codes, and adaptive reuse of historic
resources.
203
Adaptive capacity helps ensure the integrity of resources before and after
disaster events, and should be place and context-specific. Reducing vulnerability and
exposure to heritage threats – a task enabled by technical resource stabilization and
adaptive reuse, is a use of adaptive capacity that can help secure the future of existing
heritage resources.
Resource Stabilization: The most pressing action item for tangible heritage is to
stabilize existing resources. For many cities, that may mean technical and engineering
efforts aimed at preventing major damage from disasters such as hurricanes or
earthquakes. Mandatory retrofits can be required for certain vulnerable property types,
such as soft-story buildings in Los Angeles. Incentivizing other non-mandatory retrofits

203
Marissa Aho, Planning Studio Lecture, Lecture, September 12, 2018.
61

can also help stabilize historic resources. Information should be made publically
accessible about the stability of safety of properties.
Adaptive Reuse: Adaptive reuse is also a tool for stabilizing historic structures.
Finding new uses for historic structures keeps the buildings in use, while offering
benefits such as spaces and uses for community needs. Often, underutilized historic
resources can be turned into housing. In Downtown Los Angeles, over 6,500 housing
units were added to the market between 1999 and 2006 – just from the reuse of vacant
building stock.
204
Adaptive reuse can be encouraged through policy such as adaptive
reuse ordinances which provides a pathway for an expedited approval process, while
allowing for variants on zoning and code requirements that apply to new construction
and non-historic resources. These incentives make adaptive reuse less financially risky
for developers - allowing the conversion of under-used, under-appreciated or even
abandoned buildings. Adaptive reuse projects can benefit conservation and pedestrian-
oriented design while stalling urban decay.
Goal Three: Establish Community Outreach + Heritage Education Programs
Communication is a vital pre-disaster task for resilience planning. While there is
the need for more communication between the actors involved in resilience planning
and heritage conservation, there is also the need for more established community
outreach and heritage education. The mixed messages from public authorities on
heritage conservation and the complexity of different actors representing different
interests create barriers to successful outreach and education. (Table 5.3 next page)

204
Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Housing and Economic Development, “City of Los Angeles Adaptive
Reuse Program- Second Report” (City of Los Angeles, February 2006); 6-7.
62

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
3.1: Consolidate available data
and guidance on heritage
conservation + strengthening
 Engineering/Architecture
Firms
 Heritage Professionals
Short-Medium
term
3.2: Create cross-sector
networks to disseminate risk
information
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
 Community Groups
Short-term
3.3: Embed climate change
and cultural heritage in K-12
school curriculum and engage
higher education programs
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 School Districts
 Local Colleges/Universities
Medium-term
3.4: Consider cultural
dimensions in risk
communication and post-
disaster recovery plans
 Local Government
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
3.5: Encourage
intergenerational exchange of
knowledge + customs
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
3.6: Acknowledge and draw
from traditional knowledge
principles
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
 Community Groups
 Religious Organizations
 Local Indigenous Groups
Medium-term
3.7: Ensure equal access to
heritage resources
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Medium-term
3.8: Work to include multiple
narratives about local history
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Medium-term
Table 5.3: Goal Three - Action Items.
Community outreach and communication about risk should also provide up-to-
date information about planning initiatives that impact heritage. Heritage professionals
should work with the private building sector and local government to consolidate
available data and guidance on heritage strengthening and conservation. These
networks can then be utilized to disseminate risk information. Impacts, such as seismic
63

stability of a specific historic resource type – such as soft stories – can benefit from
cross-sector analysis, decision-making, and eventual policy. In Los Angeles and
surrounding Southern California communities, soft-stories are now mandated to be
seismically retrofitted after the resource type (commonly built in the post-war housing
boom) was proven unfit during strong earthquake events. In cases such as the soft-
story mandatory retrofit process, the flow of information in real time is important.
Effective coordination within a community depends on the communication between
agencies, organizations, and community members.
Community outreach and heritage education can be supported from top-down
and bottom-up approaches. In the short term, local government and community groups
can acknowledge and encourage cultural heritage traditions. From acknowledging
important cultural customs and holidays to recognizing and legitimizing informal or
cultural economies, communities can learn and celebrate their heritage – strengthening
their social capital and sense of place. Schools can include local history and cultural
heritage in their curriculum or through experiential learning, using the “trickle-up” effect
of school education.
Goal Four: Cultivate Community Empowerment through Heritage
Beyond the protection of specific buildings or landscapes from shocks and
stresses, we must link our planning to the values of heritage – such as a sense of place
and belonging, collective identity and personal self-esteem.
205
Protecting and
celebrating cultural heritage should be a distinct component of resilience planning, as it
is expressly linked to heritage values such as collective identity and confidence of place
and meaning. (Table 5.4 next page)

205
Cornelius Holtorf, “Embracing Change: How Cultural Resilience Is Increased through Cultural
Heritage,” World Archaeology 50, no. 4 (August 8, 2018): 641-642,
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1510340.
64

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
4.1: Ensure access to
Local Resilience Planning
Groups
 Local Government
 Local Resilience Planning Groups
 Religious Organizations
 Community Groups
Short-term
4.2: Utilize various
narratives of history and
populations to ensure
visibility
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 School Districts
 Local Colleges/Universities
Medium-
term
4.3: Create multi-sector
engagement in planning
and resilience planning
meetings and initiatives
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning Groups
Medium-
term
4.4: Support community
led, bottom-up risk
reduction measures
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning Groups
Long-term
Table 5.4: Goal Four - Action Items.
The willingness of people and governments to protect their cultural heritage
derives from the unique aesthetic, historic, educational, social, symbolic, scientific, and
spiritual values placed on tangible heritage, all of which add significantly to the
economic value of these cultural assets. However, those values, resources, and
responsibilities for action, may be different at the local, national, and global levels.
When communities learn to interpret past events as a showcase of capacity to deal with
change and adapt in creative ways, self-esteem, decision-making, and confidence are
improved.
206
Vulnerabilities are influenced by lifestyle and culture. That can mean that
beliefs, culture, and social influence can influence the effectiveness of resilience
policies.
A community’s shared belief in its ability to overcome hardships caused by a
disaster is pivotal to this idea. What a community knows and understands about its
ability to react and grow beyond challenges and disasters can be a way to create
outreach and buy-in from members. It is necessary for a community to ensure personal

206
Holtorf, “Embracing Change,” 641-642.
65

preparedness along with civic responsibility.
207
This can be fostered through access to
groups where information can be disseminated, along with equal access and equal
stake in the history that is told of the community.
Goal Five: Include Heritage Experts + Community Members in Resilience
Planning
One of the biggest hurdles to including heritage in resilience planning is lack of
knowledge. This can be remedied by having heritage experts and community members
who are emotionally tied to or invested in heritage at the table. A way to do this is
through local resilience planning groups (LRPGs), which have the ability to piggy-back
off of existing community groups in the area, while linking external resources with
community-based initiatives.
208

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
5.1: Designate local resilience
planning groups (LRPGs)
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
5.2: Help support these LRPG
through information, access, and
facilities
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
5.3: Recommend interested
stakeholders to the LRPG
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
5.4: Develop strategies to identify
where communities need extra
support in visibility and voice
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-Medium
Term
5.5: Delineate responsibilities to
LRPG and work to create a working
relationship with the community
needs + issues
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Medium-term
Table 5.5: Goal Five - Action Items.

207
Sonny S. Patel et al., “What Do We Mean by ‘Community Resilience’? A Systematic Literature Review
of How It Is Defined in the Literature,” PLoS Currents 9 (February 1, 2017),
https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.db775aff25efc5ac4f0660ad9c9f7db2.
208
Helen Baxter, “Creating the Conditions for Community Resilience: Aberdeen, Scotland—An Example
of the Role of Community Planning Groups,” International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 10, no. 2
(June 1, 2019): 244–60, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-019-0216-y.
66

It can be useful to establish LRPGs through existing organizations. In Los
Angeles, this can be through neighborhood groups, or the already established
neighborhood councils. The importance is engaging with the community to seek their
input, while recognizing that there is an uneven distribution of knowledge, resources,
and vulnerabilities across different neighborhoods. The LRPG and resilience planners
need to develop local strategies to identify which communities are in need of additional
support and whether they are in a position to be able to voice future concerns about
resilience and heritage.
209
Areas may not necessarily possess the ability or the
resources to take action or learn, individually or collectively, due to existing stresses.
That being said, encouraging people to interact with these broad processes and having
the City provide the support needed to harness local potential and capacities could be
possible. Heritage experts and managers should be included as they are able to
facilitate conversations about the existing resources that are in the area.
A shift to partial community ownership of risk and establishment of priorities can
help aid in the growth of capacities to act.
210
Communities that feel ownership over the
process and over what is prioritized may take risk reduction measures and the planning
initiatives more seriously.
Goal Six: Foster Interdisciplinary Partnerships at all Levels
Heritage resilience can be enhanced through complementary actions across
levels - from individuals to official government policy. Efforts of state and local
government can be coordinated by national government. Economic diversification, for
example, can help vulnerable groups, and be emphasized through policy frameworks.
Local government can utilize national policies that complement local policy efforts to
support heritage and resilience. (Table 5.6 next page)

209
Baxter, “Creating the Conditions for Community Resilience,” 244–60.
210
Baxter, “Creating the Conditions for Community Resilience,” 244–60.
67

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
6.1: Encourage a multisector
composition in resilience
planning
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups

Short-term
6.2: Engage with heritage
managers and related
institutions in other cities,
regions and states
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Medium-term
6.3: Advocate for heritage to be
represented in local and state
agendas
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Long-term
6.4: Support global frameworks
and advocacy for heritage
protection and conservation
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Medium-term
Table 5.6: Goal Six - Action Items.
Overall, these complementary actions are only possible if there are partnerships
and a shared value system. Open communication between local government, heritage
professionals and local resilience planning groups is key. Heritage resource managers
and academic institutions often have new research and information on heritage benefits
and vulnerabilities. Shared information between heritage managers (horizontal sharing)
across community and state lines can provide case studies and policy ideas that are
innovative and proven effective. Best practice sharing can be encouraged through these
channels as well.
Goal Seven: Integrate Heritage Conservation into Existing Resilience Plans
Heritage resilience must be integrated into existing resilience policies and plans.
As showcased with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, heritage fits
under a wide array of sustainability and wellness initiatives.
211
Since heritage
conservation has so many co-benefits, a key to integrating heritage into resilience

211
United Nations Economic and Social Council, “Special Edition: Progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals: Report of the Secretary-General,” Report of the Secretary-General (United Nations,
July 2018), https://undocs.org/E/2019/68.
68

planning is finding the wider city goals and policies where heritage can be identified as a
tool or asset. For example, a goal of increased health and wellness in a resilience or
planning document could benefit from inclusion of cultural heritage practices, traditional
knowledge, and built environment conservation.
Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
7.1: Identity existing goals
where heritage can be a
benefit
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
7.2: Craft action items
related to local heritage
resources
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
Table 5.7: Goal Seven - Action Items.
Goal Eight: Use Heritage as a Way to Further a People-Centered, Participatory
Governance
Heritage is rooted in the intrinsic value of places and their relationships with
people. However, the actual process of both conservation and planning tend to
concentrate power in the hands of experts, often failing to employ public engagement
mechanisms, which perpetuates social inequities. In order for heritage resilience to
work, there is a need to position community members (individuals) as partners or
collaborators, with rights to negotiate. Implementing participatory approaches, people-
centered and value-based approaches could alleviate these issues around equity.
212

(Table 5.8 next page)

212
Jamesha Gibson, Marccus D. Hendricks, and Jeremy C. Wells, “From Engagement to Empowerment:
How Heritage Professionals Can Incorporate Participatory Methods in Disaster Recovery to Better Serve
Socially Vulnerable Groups,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 25, no. 6 (June 3, 2019): 10-11,
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1530291.
69

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
8.1: Prioritize monitoring of
heritage resources where
information gaps have been
identified or vulnerability is high
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short- Medium
term
8.2: Encourage bottom-up and
grassroots initiatives supporting
planning and conservation
 Local Government
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
8.3: Protect cultural and physical
heritage through policy
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Long-term
8.4: Survey community members
about place-based values to
guide adaptation and resilience
planning
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Community Members
Short-term
8.5: Utilize heritage narratives and
professionals in planning process
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Medium-term
8.6: Guarantee heritage education
and access for engaged
stakeholders and citizens
 Local Government
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Long-term
8.7: Include community members
in the survey process of heritage
resources and tools
 Local Government
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
 Community Members
Short-term
8.8: Include traditional custodians
of heritage
 Local Government
 Community Members
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
Table 5.8: Goal Eight - Action Items.
Governance and leadership shape policy and communities. To support heritage
resilience there is a need for engaged citizens, participatory governance and value-
based approaches.
213
Engaged locals don’t just make planning easier, it also provides
representation and response to the planning initiatives.
214
This can take the form of
individuals being involved in community meetings, but it could also look like local

213
Sonny S. Patel et al., “What Do We Mean by ‘Community Resilience’? A Systematic Literature Review
of How It Is Defined in the Literature,” PLoS Currents 9 (February 1, 2017),
https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.db775aff25efc5ac4f0660ad9c9f7db2.
214
Patel et al., “What Do We Mean by ‘Community Resilience.”
70

leaders being engaged who represent the area’s aspirations and history. Public
involvement in governance and leadership can output a sense of community
empowerment, along with increased trust in risk and crisis communication provided by
local leaders. Participatory governance is also important as it relates to inequity. Who
has the power and ability to affect an area’s circumstances can impact economic,
physical, and environmental health of communities. In areas facing inequity issues, they
are faced with symptoms of perpetual crisis (chronic stress), needing additional
resources to develop resilience measures. This may require long-term planning in
conjunction with short-term support. Help creating community groups, more community
meeting times and support, and establishment of baseline health and wellness needs
are important. Integration of heritage into planning, including policy design, and
decision-making can promote the establishment of resilience in these communities.
Resilience planning, and to what level projects are implemented, is contingent on
various levels of leadership, along with the perceived risks to, and societal values of, the
surrounding community. A decision-making matrix that also includes the diverse
interests of community members and an understanding of socio-economic and cultural
contexts can help further resilience agendas. Related, it is important to remember local
sources of information. Indigenous, and local knowledge practices (or systems), such as
a local first nation’s tribe view of their surrounding environment, can help inform policy
for climate change adaptation. This is a missing link for use within resilience plans,
having the potential to increase the effectiveness of implementation, public support, and
the potential for creative problem solving.
Within the existing field of heritage conservation, it should be noted that cultural
significance reflected in different levels of designation (such as landmark status or
National Register listing) does not necessarily provide an acceptable prioritization for
the management of heritage in the resilience context. Different types of cultural
significance (and different types of heritage) will need to be considered and handled
differently based on community values instead of existing authorized heritage discourse
of art and architecture. Links between heritage professionals and community groups
need to be developed to establish an understanding of varying values.
71

In order to establish this type of governance and structure, it is necessary to
educate local government members and planners on the social significance of heritage
places and the need for conservation management plans that address them. It is
important for planners and resilience officers to also understand all the various
stakeholders and the need to organize for their participation. It is essential that differing
communities be identified from a range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, as
heritage values and resources can be pluralistic and changing.
At a community-level, resilience requires collective action. This includes knowing
neighbors and other people in the locality, and having the self-confidence to act. People
that work or socialize together or participate in the same activities together or even just
simply meet and talk together on a regular basis are more likely to cooperate effectively
in both planning for shock events and dealing with the events. Such connectedness can
also help monitor indicators of heritage resources, offer valuable information on the
resources and cultural heritage that matters to community members, and provides
natural groupings for local resilience planning groups. On a broader note, large state
and national policy and change can enhance heritage resilience. Policies that work to
correct systemic inequities quell displacement and provide economic opportunities
support communities and therefore the players within heritage.
Goal Nine: Integrate Traditional Knowledge into Resilience Planning
Traditional knowledge, archaeology, and other information from heritage places,
museums, and cultural heritage, is pivotal to the continuity and longevity of places. The
past can illuminate creative ways of adaptation and mitigation of risks. Traditional
knowledge is also useful for understanding how to manage change in communities
without fracturing cohesion or social values. (Table 5.9 next page)

72

Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
9.1: Identify examples of past
disaster events and their impact
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
9.2: Use archaeological data and
other data from heritage places,
museums, and curated collections
to identify and explore past human
impacts on local environments
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups

Medium-term
9.3: Encourage intergenerational
exchange of knowledge and
information
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
9.4: Explore application of past
adaptation and mitigation
techniques to climate and
landscape changes (such as
agriculture, architecture, and land-
use patterns)
 Heritage Professionals
 Academic community

Medium-term
9.5: Interpret cultural heritage as
empowering evidence of repeated
human adaptation to change
 Heritage Community

Medium-term
Table 5.9: Goal Nine - Action Items.
These benefits can be enhanced through the encouragement of intergenerational
exchange of knowledge, along with establishing formal methods of recording community
stories, values, and history. Through the gathering of this information, it’s possible to
identify examples of past social adaptability to change. In some cases, this could be
learning of past land-use methods to prevent flooding damage (such as flooding
meadows), or may showcase local architecture techniques that can be deployed to
mitigate risks and damage due to local threats.
Using archaeological data and other information from heritage places, museums
and other curated collections can be used to identify and explore past human impacts
on environments over various time frames and at various scales. On a local level,
exploring application of past adaptation and mitigation techniques to landscape and
environmental changes – including agriculture, architecture, and land-use – can be a
resilience strategy only available through the heritage conservation sector.
73

Beyond relating past adaptability to current issues and decision-making,
exploration of community’s responses to change, particularly catastrophes and
displacement, can be used as an empowerment tool. Interpretation of cultural heritage
as inspiration evidence of repeated human adaptation and resilience can provide a
powerful narrative and increase participation in local resilience planning groups and
community engagement.
Goal Ten: Value Heritage as a Multi-faceted Resilience Building Tool
Action Item Potential Partners Time Frame
10.1: Encourage the use of low-
carbon, historic building and
landscape techniques suited to local
environments
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
10.2: Emphasize the benefits of
reusing buildings by quantifying
embodied energy savings
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
Medium-
term
10.3: Support technology and
knowledge transfer of heritage
building technologies
 Local government
 Heritage professionals
 Private Sector
Medium-
term
10.4: Preserve Open-space +
Cultural Landscapes
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
10.5: Encourage Compatible Infill
Development
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
10.6 Preserve + Plant Trees in
Urban Areas
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience Planning
Groups
Short-term
10.7: Encourage the use of
traditional sustainability building
techniques
 Private Sector
 Local Government
Medium-
term
Table 5.10: Goal Ten - Action Items.
Within resilience planning discussions and reports, heritage is often viewed as a
collection of resources that are at risk. This ‘heritage at risk’ narrative aligns with
popular thinking that often casts aside alternative methods and practices without
pausing to evaluate or consider their potential use value. The ‘heritage at risk’
74

framework also misunderstands the character and significance of heritage in society. A
significant component of heritage resilience is creating a forward-thinking heritage
narrative. A shift from at-risk to a narrative deploying the co-benefits of heritage can
help build public support for conservation, promote use of heritage, and empower
community members. Capturing and communicating contributions of heritage to
measures such as quality of life, responsible tourism, as a sustainability tool, and as a
means to other planning needs, is pivotal way of promoting the value of the role of
heritage in resilience planning.
Coordinated adaptive reuse and small business support – such as a Main Street
program – are one way that the heritage narrative can be shifted. Small startup
businesses often seek affordable retail and office spaces in commercial districts and
corridors. Small, aging and vacant properties found on main streets tend to be more
affordable than rents in newly constructed buildings. However, these properties often
need significant investments of time, expertise and capital to comply with code
requirements and work functionally for modern businesses. Small businesses can be
connected to resources and mentors to develop plans to reduce interruptions and
promote adaptive reuse.
Promote heritage for its established co-benefits: Holistic resiliency improvements
should also maintain and improve the architectural and urban design character of the
neighborhood. Resilient building retrofits can be part of an historic preservation strategy,
while new development or major renovations should consider balancing any elevation of
structures with the site, streetscape, and nearby architecture. Building hardening
measures should also encourage the prosperity and success of businesses by
improving accessibility, operations, and maintenance, as well as educating tenants and
owners on resiliency and preparedness.
215

Within open space and landscapes, the preservation of mature trees can help
reconnect fragmented urban areas and contribute to conservation-planning. Initiatives

215
Hardening enhances the physical resilience of infrastructure against an external shock, and aims to
reduce the physical impact on the grid.
75

such as tree conservation also protect open-space, reduce pollution, and help quell
urban heat island effects.
Promote heritage as a sustainability tool: The greenest building is the one
already built.
216
Promoting heritage as a sustainability tool can help encourage the use
of historic resources, create public will around its conservation, and help offset the costs
of conservation. Promoting the use of traditional, low-carbon, climate-adapted building
technologies, including in new construction, can help promote heritage and historic
resources as sustainability tools. Traditional buildings have characteristics, sometimes
called ‘inherently sustainable features’ (ISFs), that functioned before mechanical
hardware such as HVAC became commonplace. Today, the use of such technologies in
construction is declining in many areas and is being replaced with building approaches
and construction methods that are typically more carbon intensive (for example, relying
on air conditioning) but are perceived to be cheaper.
Developing and widely disseminating research and building models that help
explain and quantify the embodied carbon and energy savings from historic
preservation versus new construction, along with the related environmental costs of
demolition versus reuse is important in promoting heritage as a sustainability tool.
Transfer of knowledge, along with supporting further work on research and development
around the scalability of these tools is important – especially in areas with lots of
development pressure and/or historic resources. Sustainability is often high on city
planner’s agendas and is often incentivized to developers. If heritage can be promoted
as a strong sustainability tool, it can help encourage its conservation.
Financing Heritage Resilience:
One of the biggest problems with resilience planning is the upfront cost of
projects. Even when investing in resilience is guaranteed a financial gain in the long
term, investments can be challenging to get approved. Funding for large adaptation and
resilience projects is often completed with both public and private financing. Financing

216
The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Green Lab, “The Greenest Building:
Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse” (Washington, D.C: The National Trust for Historic
Preservation, 2012);6. https://forum.savingplaces.org/viewdocument/the-greenest-building-quantifying.
76

options can come through federal grants, state funding, bond and tax measures, local
budget options, and/or private investments.
Federal Funding: Various government departments offer grants, and technical
resources to advance local resilience efforts that can be translated to heritage
resilience.
217

Federal Funding Sources Description (from Funding Source)
EPA Smart Growth Grants The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Sustainable Communities sometimes makes available
grants for activities that improve the quality of urban
and suburban development- benefiting health, well-
being and the environment.
218

FEMA Preparedness Grants FEMA provides state and local governments with
preparedness program funding to enhance the
capacity of their emergency responders to prevent,
respond to, and recover from a range of hazards.
219

FEMA Hazard Mitigation
Assistance
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs
provide funding to protect life and property from future
natural disasters.
220

USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Helps agricultural producers use conservation to
manage risk and address natural resource issues
through conservation.

Conservation Innovation Grants offer opportunities to
stimulate the development of innovative conservation
approaches that leverage federal investment in
environmental protection.
221

Table Continued on Next Page

217
NOAA, “Funding Opportunities | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit,” 2019,
https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/funding-opportunities.
218
US EPA, “EPA Smart Growth Grants and Other Funding,” Overviews and Factsheets, US EPA, March
12, 2014, https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/epa-smart-growth-grants-and-other-funding.
219
FEMA Grant Programs, “FEMA Preparedness Grants Manual” (FEMA, 2019),
https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/178291.
220
FEMA Grant Programs, “Hazard Mitigation Grant Program | FEMA.Gov,” FEMA.gov, December 4,
2019, https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program.
221
Natural Resources Conservation Service, “NRCS Funding Opportunities | NRCS,” USDA.gov,
December 3, 2019,
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/programs/?&cid=stelprdb1048817.
77

Federal Historic Preservation
Tax Incentives Program
The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives
program encourages private sector investment in the
rehabilitation and re-use of historic buildings.
222

Community Development
Block Grants (CDBG)
HUD’s CDBG funding works to ensure the creation
and preservation of affordable housing, provides
services to underserved communities, and creates
jobs through the expansion and retention of
businesses.
223

Transportation Equity Act
Funding (TEA)
This funding authorized over $200 billion to improve
transportation infrastructure, enhance economic
growth and protect the environment. TEA-21 which
was in effect through 2005 funded opportunities to
improve air and water quality, restore wetlands and
natural habitat, and rejuvenate urban areas through
transportation redevelopment, increased transit and
sustainable alternatives to urban sprawl. Alternatives
or re-establishment of this funding source can be
considered.
224

Table 5.11: Federal Funding Sources.
State Funding: Investments in resilience efforts can be sourced through
numerous state grant and funding programs. State policies often include stipulations
and money for the creation and implementation of resilience actions through various
agencies as part of their broad goals to advance sustainability. In California for
example, there is currently over $2 billion available each year for climate mitigation and
adaptation efforts through the state’s Cap-and-Trade program. Legislation through 2030
ensures that there will be continued investment in the environment, which can cross
over into resilience planning.
225
Beyond this, the past year has shown bond measures
have generated $168 billion for schools, parks, hospitals, and housing – all vital parts of
community cohesion.

222
National Park Service Technical Preservation Services, “Federal Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating
Historic Buildings Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018” (Washington, D.C: U.S Department of the Interior,
October 2019), https://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives/taxdocs/tax-incentives-2018annual.pdf.
223
U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Community Development Block Grant Program
- CDBG/U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” HUD.gov, December 4, 2019,
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/communitydevelopment/programs.
224
United States Department of Transportation, “Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century,” TEA-21,
December 4, 2019, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/index.htm.
225
100 Resilient Cities, “Resilience Public Policy and Implementation in California,” White Paper, October
2017.
78

State Funding Sources Description (From Funding Source)
State Coastal Commission Provides grants and resources for the implementation
of local coastal programs (LCP), while also regulating
coastal development and projects.
State Historic Tax Credit
Programs
Leverages private investment in the adaptive reuse
and preservation of historic buildings. Money is
allocated annually for tax credits for a percentage of
qualified rehabilitation expenses.
Housing and Community
Development Agencies
Typically manages housing programs to ensure
equity. Provides support for affordable housing
creation and homelessness initiatives.
State Office of Emergency
Services
Manages integration of climate and disaster
resilience planning at the local and state levels.
Offers monetary support for local hazard mitigation.
State Historic Preservation
Office
Can provide technical assistance on historic
resources and offer help with designations- often
making areas eligible for funding.
Table 5.12: State Funding Sources.
Local Funding Efforts: Local communities, especially local governments, are
eligible to apply for grants, create budgets, and outline tax measures that can help
finance heritage resilience.
Local Funding Efforts Description
Designation of special tax assessment
districts
Voter approved areas that can levy taxes
for resilience priorities.
Utilize local capital planning budget funds Can incorporate resilience into day-to-day
efforts.
Tax-breaks and policy measures Provide development incentives to
encourage private investment in heritage
resilience through tax-breaks and policy
measures.
Leverage fee revenues Leverage revenues from new fees, such
as new construction permits, accessory
dwelling unit permit fees, and others.
Table 5.13: Local Funding Sources.
Other/Innovative Funding: There are ways of funding heritage and resilience
projects without relying on local, state, or national funds. It is also possible to leverage
innovative finance mechanisms – such as emissions trading or green bonds. These
types of funding opportunities require thinking holistically about the co-benefits that
heritage and resilience offer. It is important to cast as wide a net as possible when
79

looking for funding. For example, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works
Grants have been used for green infrastructure projects that benefit heritage resilience.
Other/ Innovative
Funding Sources
Description (from Funding Source)
Kresge Foundation The Kresge Foundation helps fund community projects that
build resilience in the face of climate change. They invest in
place-based innovation and in activities that disseminate
and bring to scale promising climate-resilience approaches.
Other foundations exhibit similar funding structures and
goals such as the Knight Foundation.
226

National Trust for
Historic Preservation
Funding from the National Trust is intended to “encourage
preservation at the local level by providing seed money for
preservation projects.” These grants help enable local
groups to gain the technical expertise needed for particular
projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and
techniques, and encourage financial participation by the
private sector.
227

Resilience Impact Fees An funding approach that embeds resilience fees in
development entitlements or via building permit processes.
This can be established by governmental entities.
Main Street Program
Funding
Often supported by state general funds or grants, main
street programs provide historic commercial district support
and revitalization toolkits.
Hope VI Main Street
Funding
A HUD initiative, the Main Street program provides
assistance to smaller communities in the development of
affordable housing that is undertaken in connection with a
Main Street revitalization effort.
228

Resilience Bonds Provides an investible debt instrument for resilience,
offsetting municipal or national budget shortfalls.
229

National Endowment of
the Arts Works Grants
Grants for organizations that support exemplary projects in
arts education, folk and traditional arts, museums and
more.
Table 5.14: Private Funding Sources.

226
The Kresge Foundation, “How We Fund- Grantmaking,” Kresge.org, December 4, 2019,
https://kresge.org/how-we-fund/grantmaking.
227
National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Grant Programs,” savingplaces.org, December 4, 2019,
https://savingplaces.org/grants.
228
U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Main Street Grants - HOPE VI,” HUD.gov,
December 4, 2019,
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph/hope6/grants/mainstreet.
229
Andrew Deutz, Jan Kellett, and Tenke Zoltani, “Innovative Finance For Resilient Coasts and
Communities” (The Nature Conservancy, United Nations Development Programme, November 2018).
80

Financing heritage resilience faces the same challenges that other systemic
problems face. Within the tools and finances identified, how can we fill the gap between
the funds that are allocated for heritage resilience (or related goals such as climate
change) and what is needed to preserve and retain our heritage? Because of the
interdisciplinary aspect of resilience, an effort should be made to apply for, and fight for,
more allocated money in budgets and programs across all levels of organizations and
government. Cities can utilize guidance made available by their state and
resilience/climate focused organizations to help survey the potential ways that finance
planning can work with heritage projects. Supplemental grants, finance partners, and
multi-layered fiscal plans are essential to covering the upfront and continued cost of
resilience.
230

230
100 Resilient Cities, “Resilience Public Policy and Implementation in California,” White Paper, October
2017.
81

Conclusion
This thesis was inspired by a series of tectonic events in the Southern California
region. While impactful, the Ridgecrest earthquakes were just a blip on the seismic
record reminding us that the shocks and stresses specific to individual cities are not
going away. Climate change, and its myriad impacts, is beginning to show in the
increase in extreme weather events, precipitation changes, and sea level rise.
Resilience is an urgent planning matter, a fact that does not work well with the often
slow-moving field of urban planning. Community support, cross-sector networks, and
open communication are necessary to address the urgency of resilience planning for all.
We are faced with the complex problem that heritage both participates in creating
vulnerabilities within cities, and also helps build resiliency. Heritage encompasses the
full range of inherited objects, monuments, and culture. This is important because our
contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors are drawn from our heritage.
231
What
we decide to save, remember, or forget is an important aspect of heritage and subject to
active public reflection and discussion.
Resilience planning needs to do more than just protect cities from shocks and
stresses. Resiliency also needs to work hand in hand with heritage conservation to
protect the places that people feel connected to. This means risk reduction across all
areas of a city – not just infrastructure. Planning must be holistically integrated with
heritage conservation, sustainability strategies, and social-community equity
frameworks. The objective of resilience planners must be to increase resilience for
every community member, and to ensure that the heritage and history of those who live
there continues with it. We need a societal policy shift to a more value-based system
where heritage can rightfully have a stronger voice in planning decisions. Additionally,
we need to recognize that on an individual level, we are the primary actors shaping the
communities and environments that we occupy. We must recognize our centrality to
what is lost, saved, and created. Heritage is vitally important to community longevity,
and must work with the course of changing climates, systems, and society.

231
Thompson Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, American Association for State and Local History
(Washington, D.C: National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), 2-3.
82

Resilience planning can be daunting for communities. As cities work through their
resilience planning process, heritage must be included in the conversations and actions.
Although ten goals and subsequent action items were outlined in the previous chapter,
the following summary offers the baseline of actions that should be completed to begin
utilizing heritage resilience principles.
Baseline Actions Potential Partners Time Frame
Complete a survey of heritage
resources making sure to
include local community input
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Community members
Short-term
Establish a weighted
(prioritized) list of heritage
threats, based on impacts and
probability
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 Experts on Threats
Short-term
Prioritize monitoring of heritage
resources where information
gaps have been identified or
vulnerability is high
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short- Medium
term
Encourage bottom-up and
grassroots initiatives supporting
planning and conservation
 Local Government
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Short-term
Protect cultural and physical
heritage through policy,
including preserving open-
space and cultural landscapes
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Medium-term
Survey community members
about place-based values to
guide adaptation and resilience
planning
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Community Members
Short-term
Utilize heritage narratives,
traditional custodians of
heritage, and broader
community in resilience
planning process
 Local Government
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Resilience
Planning Groups
Medium-term
Encourage continued or
adaptive use of heritage
resources
 Heritage Professionals
 Local Government
 State Government
 Private Sector
Short-Medium
term
Strengthen surrounding city
infrastructure (storm water,
electrical grid, etc.)
 Local Government
 State + National
Government
Short-Medium
term
Table 6.1: Baseline Actions for Heritage Resilience
83

Obviously, many issues that have been discussed relating to climate change,
resource management, and social inequities are incredibly complex and challenging. If
these issues are to be addressed properly, it must be done according to local needs,
feasibility, and political priorities. The action items presented seek to help shift the
decision-making and voice into the hands of the community, which ultimately should
have the choice in what their future looks like.
The linkages presented here highlight ideas and linkages that can connect
heritage with resilience planning. It does not cover in depth policy action, political
preferences, or specific financial capabilities. Further research is needed into
quantifying benefits from conservation, especially related to risk reduction and
resilience. The work being done by cities and resilience officers, along with private
sector and heritage professionals in the field of resilience needs to be compiled and
researched in order to create a series of best practices and lessons to be learned. How
cities can mitigate issues of deep systemic social and racial inequity is another topic
that needs to be addressed.
Heritage requires careful management by present generations in order to assure
access and enjoyment of these resources by future generations. Heritage resources are
unique and once lost they are lost forever. This ‘uniqueness’ should prompt
government, heritage professionals, and non-governmental institutions to address the
special aspects of cultural heritage when seeking resilience. Our communities are all
unique with their own history and heritage. The link between resilience and heritage
conservation must be established within formal and informal pathways in order to
ensure the health and success for our current and future community members.

84

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Asset Metadata

Creator Kaline, Kelsey E. (author)

Core Title Mobilizing heritage conservation as a tool for urban resilience: linkages and recommendations

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Arts / Master of Planning

Degree Program Heritage Conservation / Planning

Publication Date 01/16/2020

Defense Date 12/12/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag built environment,climate change,Earthquakes,Heritage Conservation,Historic Preservation,OAI-PMH Harvest,resilience,Urban planning

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sandmeier, Trudi (committee chair), Aho, Marissa (committee member), Platt, Jay (committee member)

Creator Email kaline@usc.edu,kelseykaline@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-259321

Unique identifier UC11675178

Identifier etd-KalineKels-8120.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-259321 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KalineKels-8120.pdf

Dmrecord 259321

Document Type Thesis

Rights Kaline, Kelsey E.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA