Urban-Land-Institute-Applauds-Citys-Resiliency-Strategy
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Tonya Daniels, E-mail: tonyadaniels@miamibeachfl.gov
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2018
Urban Land Institute Applauds City’s Resiliency Strategy
— Providing Positive Feedback and Suggestions in their Final Report —
Miami Beach, FL – By elevating roads, installing stormwater pumps and implementing green
infrastructure, the City of Miami Beach has acted with courage to fix sunny day and stormwater
flooding. Miami Beach has shown its commitment to rising to the challenge of rising seas. To
help the city refine and enhance its approach, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) conducted a third-
party, advisory technical assistance panel to evaluate the city’s stormwater management and
climate adaption strategy. Yesterday, ULI presented their preliminary findings following a three-
day period of in-depth workshops, tours and interviews. The final report is expected sometime
this summer.
The technical advisory panel analyzed the city’s programs through the lenses of infrastructure
advancement, design typologies, creative placemaking, governance, finance, regulation and an
integrated communications plan.
President of Climate Resiliency Consulting, Joyce Coffee, praised the city’s efforts. “The panel
has been incredibly impressed with Miami Beach’s approach to addressing sea level rise
challenges and the city’s commitment to maturing this approach,” said Coffee. “Miami Beach is
moving on the right course, the panel’s final recommendations will help the city polish its
strategy and cultivate a unified community vision.”
In particular, the city was applauded for its innovative approach in engineering and prioritization
of its stormwater pumps, the stormwater program’s risk minimizing design, carefully crafted
communications materials, ability to raise funds through utility fees, and collaboration with
regional partnerships, including 100 Resilient Cities.
Opportunities for improvement include implementing a more comprehensive vision for living with
water, improving flexibility and robustness of its pump system, amplifying aesthetics and
function, enhancing the Rising Above resiliency brand, and establishing a level of service
concept to guide future phasing and aid in decision-making.
“Miami Beach was fortunate to receive the input of world class experts from ULI, and I am
grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for agreeing to cover the costs of this important review.
Their views will help better inform our judgment and I was heartened that they believe in much
of our current plan,” shared Mayor Dan Gelber. “I am also grateful that they identified new
directions we can and will pursue with our resiliency strategies. Ultimately they made it clear
that we must show our resiliency program to be a value-added for residents, crafted with their
input and trust, and we intend to deliver on that obligation.”
The presentation and video can be accessed by clicking here.
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