Miami Unveils Resiliency Plan to Tackle Affordable Housing, Traffic, Income Inequality

Miami is often seen as ground zero for the challenges climate change can create for a city. But that isn’t the only significant issue the region is facing.

Traffic and infrastructure, affordable housing and income inequality are just some prevalent issues the area is working to resolve. That’s why Greater Miami and the beaches have released its new resilience strategy, which aims to tackle every unique problem the area is experiencing.

Resilient 305 has been in development for the past three years with the City of Miami, Miami Beach, and Miami-Dade County crafting it  thanks in part to the funding of the 100 Resilient Cities program.

The program, which was created by the Rockefeller Foundation, aimed to improve resiliency across 100 cities around the world by creating a global network to discuss solutions for issues that plagued them. The program ends in July as many of the cities involved in the initiative have released resilience strategies like Resilient 305. In fact, Honolulu and Calgary revealed their plans the exact same day as Miami.

The newly unveiled plan contains a series of projects that address issues like sea level rise and coastal erosion, growing traffic congestion, infrastructure, affordable housing and income inequality.

Some of the immediate changes residents can expect from these projects in the coming year are the preservation and restoration of Biscayne Bay and an arrest diversion program for opioid users. However, better bus routes and an expansion of renewable energy may take a bit more time.

The ultimate goal of Resilient 305 is to recreate the network of 100 Resilient Cities – but on a local level. Twenty-five municipalities in the Greater Miami area (Key Biscayne and El Portal to name a few) have already signed up to be a part of the program. They will have access to all the research and tools the Rockefeller Foundation provided over the last three years.

They will also be required to take multiple training courses in order to make sure they can properly identify and fund projects that address their local issues.

Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami, and Miami Beach are currently the model municipalities in the program, as many local projects that address challenges in the area are currently being carried out.

The City of Miami is currently improving its pump stations to address flooding caused by storms and rising tides. At the same time, the city is launching an affordable housing project to address its issues of income inequality.

“All the data analysis shows our wage growth is not growing on par with our population growth,” City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez says. “We’re number seven in population, over a hundred in GDP per capita, and two hundred and sixty in per capita growth.”

The affordable housing master plan aims to create and preserve 12,000 affordable units by 2024.

Contact Us