Helping Cities Manage Risk and Become More Resilient: Smart Surfaces, Credit Ratings and Risk Management
By Greg Kats, Steve Bushnell, Will Wynn and Rob Jarrell
View the 3-part article in Risk & Insurance Magazine online, or download the report below.
Executive Summary
The increasing frequency and severity of extreme and costly weather events such as storms, hurricanes, extreme rains, and heat waves are increasing costs and risks to cities, in turn threatening their credit rating and their cost of borrowing money. Smart Surface strategies can reshape how cities manage rain and sun, greatly reducing costs and risks of excess heat, smog and flooding, and making cities more livable, comfortable, and safe. To date, the potential impact of adopting these strategies on city credit rating has been largely overlooked. Our analysis demonstrates that cities that choose to not adopt smart surfaces will experience significantly increased extreme weather-related losses, increased risk of credit rating reductions, and associated increases in city borrowing costs. Over time, these combined threats will increase risk of insolvency for cites that do not adopt resilience strategies such as smart surfaces. This work is part of the Smart Surfaces Coalition, comprised of thirty partners, including the National League of Cities and the American Institute of Architects. This analysis is intended to help cities better understand and more effectively manage and reduce extreme weather-related risk, and thus help cities remain livable, healthy, and financially viable.
