Planning in the midst of climate change: identifying vulnerabilities to flooding in the City of Surrey

This project explores local vulnerabilities to climate change impacts within Surrey, British Columbia. It emphasizes the critical role of cities in addressing climate change locally through both mitigation and adaptation. The concepts of vulnerability, sustainability, and adaptation are correlated within an integrated policy matrix. This integration seeks to maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation to climate change, in order to reinforce sustainable urban development. Using this framework the research examines Surrey’s sustainable development pathway, or ‘sustainability ethos,’ expressed in its policies and practices. It concludes that Surrey fails to articulate ‘planned adaptation’ to address its inevitable vulnerabilities to climate change impacts such as flooding. The recommendations provided promote an integrated approach to climate protection, which minimizes liabilities and ensures appropriate action is taken locally to build a resilient and sustainable city in the midst of climate change.