Cost Effectiveness of CDBG-DR: Flood Mitigation and Vulnerable Populations

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $850,000 to a research team led by Professor Eric Tate, for their proposal "Cost Effectiveness of CDBG-DR:  Flood Mitigation and Vulnerable Populations."  CDBG-DR is the disaster recovery program under HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Program.  The 3-year project will analyze economic and social benefits of CDBG-DR disbursements for flood recovery and provide guidance for future program grantees.  The research will focus on recovery spending for hazard mitigation (strategies that reduce impacts from future floods), with particular emphasis on effects on socially vulnerable populations.  The project team is interdisciplinary and multi-institutional, and includes co-investigators from the RAND Corporation, Louisiana State University, Arizona State University, and the University of Central Florida.
Funder: The US Department of Housing and Urban Development 

Design for Resilience Guide and Workbook

The Design for Resilience Guide is useful for scoping and evaluating projects aimed at reducing disaster risk. Through questions, the Guide and its accompanying Workbook prompt users to reflect on the inclusion and quality of project components such as local risks, community needs, stakeholder engagement,  financial sustainability, and more. The Design for Resilience Guide emphasizes:  
  • risk-informed decision-making that permeates all community planning activities;
  • the contextualization of the need and value of a project as part of a local roadmap for risk reduction;
  • the holistic development of a project idea aimed at assisting underserved populations, particularly those in high-risk areas;
  • the incorporation of community belonging and equity considerations as fundamental design principles; 
  • the examination of a project’s risks and benefits before, during, and after implementation; and
  • innovative ideas and approaches that complement and move traditional hazard mitigation forward.

Download the Guide and Workbook here:

Design for Resilience Guide and Design for Resilience Workbook

HUD