The Gospel of Resiliency, Neoliberalism, and the Politics Waterfront Development in New York City

• In Event: 121 - Section on Marxist Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Marxism and Crisis (Political, Economic, and Cultural)

Abstract

In cities throughout the world, ideas about resiliency are increasingly being incorporated into the discourse of sustainability. This is clearly the case in New York City, where the most recent version of its long-term sustainability plan claims to be, “A vision for a sustainable and resilient New York City.” Three years after Hurricane Sandy, contentious debates are still being waged on how to rebuild and protect New York City’s waterfront from rising seas and coastal flooding. While the word resilience was hardly used in sustainability and waterfront planning documents prior to the storm, post Sandy sustainable planning discourse increasingly touts “the gospel of resilience.” The fact that the inclusion of resiliency into the city’s sustainable growth agenda has not slowed development on its vulnerable waterfront raises a host of serious questions and issues. Sustainability and resiliency are contentious terms that have been subject to a great deal of critical scrutiny. Despite being amorphous and contradictory buzzwords that means different things to different people in varying contexts, they have become ubiquitous. This paper will explore some of the tensions and pitfalls of linking sustainability with resiliency and address how this emerging discourse of sustainable resiliency is being framed and applied in waterfront planning in New York City. It will focus on how top town urban growth coalitions as well as community- based “just sustainability” efforts negotiate the 3 E’s as they struggle to make the waterfront more sustainable and resilient given the new normal of rising seas and coastal flooding.

Author

• Steven Lang, LaGuardia College at CUNY