Biophilia as climate justice for post-buyout land management

Abstract

U.S. communities are facing difficult land use planning decisions in response to the intensifying climate crisis. Despite these challenges, land use planning can support climate justice, providing an opportunity to re-envision the built and natural environments in communities most at risk to the effects of climate change. Home buyout programs, which seek to permanently relocate households out of high-risk areas and convert the land to open space, are one available tool for addressing these challenges. Although buyouts result in significant and lasting social disruption, they can offer an opportunity to reimage more equitable and beneficial land management practices in places where retreat is necessary. By engaging with biophilic design theory, this study considers how open space created through buyouts can be used to support social and ecological systems and more equitably meet community needs. We apply a mixed-methods approach to examine how land management practices on post-buyout open space align with the principles of biophilic design and opportunities for increased engagement in Harris County, TX, home to a long-running buyout program. Findings suggest that current land uses are predominately low utility. We suggest that strategic conservation practices can increase both the utility of post-buyout land and resiliency within affected neighborhoods.