Analysis of Urbanization and Climate Change Effects on Community Resilience in the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas

Abstract

Disruptive development events have tested and will continue to test community resilience as people work to balance healthy living, economic growth, and environmental quality. Aspects of urbanization, if not designed and guided by healthy living strategies, convert natural areas into built environments, thus reducing the diversity of plant and animal species that are the foundation of resilience in communities. In this study, we attempted to answer the following question: What are the most effective ways to ensure that ongoing urbanization and climate change do not negatively affect ecological services and community resilience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV)? The region is experiencing a high urban growth rate and is also one of the poorest regions in Texas. Thus, it has an inadequate capacity to prevent or mitigate climate change-related threats and take advantage of opportunities associated with urbanization. Using qualitative analysis, we consulted existing literature to identify relevant leverage points that can help foster regional resilience capacity. The findings show that there are very strong leverage points that can produce cumulative desired resilience outcomes, but these have not been incorporated into policy and natural systems in the RGV.

Research on the coordinated development between land urbanization and population urbanization in Shaanxi Province, China

“…For example, Faisal believed that when urbanization reached a certain threshold, it would instead reduce environmental pollution 25 . Atisa proposed that there was a very strong leverage point between urbanization and species diversity, and discovering and utilizing this leverage point could accumulate the expected ecological restoration effects 26 .…”

Research on the risk of imbalanced development of land urbanization and population urbanization——Evidence from Shaanxi Province, China

“…After evaluating the impact of urbanization on ecological environment, biological population and economic development, some scholars believe that urbanization will bring negative impact on ecological environment and biological population, but it will promote social and economic development [15,16,17,18,19,20]. However, Faisal believe that urbanization will reduce environmental pollution after reaching a critical point [21] ; Atisa believe that there is a very strong leverage point between urbanization and plant and animal species diversity as the basis of community resilience, and that nding and exploiting this leverage point can produce expected cumulative resilience results [22] .…”