Oakland Launches Resilience Playbook To Deal With Long-Term Challenges
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The city of Oakland has developed a comprehensive plan to address economic security, equitable jobs, housing, community safety and threats from climate change, city officials announced Monday.
Oakland's Mayor Libby Schaaf unveiled the city's strategy, calling it "Resilient Oakland: It Takes a Town to Thrive," during a news conference at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House at 568 Bellevue Ave.
The strategy is designed to make Oakland better prepared for dealing with an array of challenges such as earthquakes, flooding and sea level rise, drought, fire and extreme heat, social unrest, aging infrastructure and social inequity, according to city officials.
The strategy has been organized into a Resilience Playbook built around three themes, which include building a more trustworthy and responsive government, staying rooted and thriving in the city, and building a more vibrant and connected Oakland, city officials said.
"We all know that Oakland is one of the most diverse, creative and progressive coastal cities in the U.S.," Schaaf said. "We also sit in one of the most prosperous economic growth centers in the world. But the benefits of this growth are not being dealt with equitably and that is so acutely felt in Oakland."
"The Resilient Oakland Playbook sets forth nearly 40 actions designed to be collaborative, data-driven and equitable in our outcomes," Oakland's Chief Resilience Officer Kiran Jain said. "By taking a continuous 'build, measure, learn' approach to resiliency, we honor the work that has been done and build on it today, while setting forth bold actions that shape the future of a more resilient Oakland."
The Rockefeller Foundation first pioneered 100 Resilient Cities in 2013 as a way to help more cities build resilience to the physical, social and economic challenges that are being faced in modern times, according to the organization.
Cities all over the world have applied to become to part of the network. Once selected, cities are eligible to receive support, which includes help hiring a Chief Resilience Officer, assistance developing a resilience strategy and access to partners and their resources, which include Microsoft, Swiss Re and the Nature Conservancy.
Oakland is the 19th city in the world to join the network, the seventh in the country and the third in the Bay Area. San Francisco and Berkeley have also been selected to be part of the 100 Resilient Cities network.
"To have three resilience officers, three resilient offices and three resilient strategies, looking at those issues together, we hope to drive this entire region to be more resilient to physical, social and economic challenges that they are facing," President of 100 Resilient Cities Michael Berkowitz said.
To find out more about Resilient Oakland, residents can visit https://beta.oaklandca.gov/issues/resilient-oakland.
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