Los Angeles Resiliency Strategy Looks Beyond 'The Big One'

In partnership with the 100 Resilient Cities network, the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti released a long-term resiliency strategy addressing climate adaptation, green infrastructure, and more, with targets ranging from the end of 2018 to 2043.

Resilient Los Angeles focuses in large part on earthquake safety, including a proposal to require mandatory retrofits for steel buildings built before 1994. The city is currently making slow but steady progress on bringing soft-story and concrete buildings into compliance with seismic safety standards. 

As part of the plan, the city would also work with neighborhood councils to create disaster readiness plans for more localized hazards. For example, "Venice would likely focus on sea-level rise, while the Hollywood Hills would probably make mudslides the priority," Rachel Dovey explains in Next City.

Other major goals include reaching a target of 65 percent renewable energy by 2036; investing in green infrastructure and stormwater capture; and mitigating urban heat island effect with neighborhood-level cooling projects.