Floods, climate change and economic crisis in Ireland’s coastal cities

Jeffers, J.M (2014) Floods, climate change and economic crisis in Ireland’s coastal cities. In: Environment, Politics and Development Research Group Seminar, 11 November 2014, King's College, London.

Abstract

The importance of the interactions between global environmental and socio-economic changes in shaping vulnerability and exposure to hazards is now increasingly recognised. However relatively little attention has been focused on the ways in which these interactions help to shape planning and policy in response to both processes. Utilising the double-exposure framework this presentation examines how the intersections between the twin crises of economic recession and climate change have influenced hazards flood hazards mitigation policy and climate change adaptation planning in three of Ireland’s coastal cities. I argue that the interactions between environmental change and economic crisis have created the material and ideological conditions in which a neoliberal growth centred discourse of economic development dominates all areas of decision-making and policy. This has important implications for environmental policy and planning in cities, promoting a vision of a modern competitive city in which technological solutions are the preferred means of addressing flood risks. These decisions in turn reshape the exposures and vulnerabilities of local communities.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture)
Divisions: School of Sciences
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Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2015 17:38
Last Modified: 15 Aug 2021 09:39
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/5300
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