Adopt the Resolution to collaborate with Florida International University on an Inspirational Resilience Vision Campaign.   

On March 18, 2020, the City Commission unanimously approved Resolution No. 2020-31217 (Attachment 1), directing the Administration to develop an Inspirational Resilience Vision Campaign to envision what Miami Beach will look like in thirty years or longer, considering the need to plan and adapt to sea level rise.  The Resolution specified that the campaign should illustrate the City’s resilience efforts, the fight against sea level rise, and the planned mitigation and adaptation measures the City envisions for the future. 

At the July 21, 2020 Land Use and Sustainability Committee meeting, a proposal provided by Florida International University (FIU), for a global resilience vision competition, was discussed.  The Administration further worked with FIU to define details and resources and bring a recommendation for next steps to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee.

At the February 17, 2021, Land Use and Sustainability Committee, FIU presented student resilience vision renderings.  Additional collaborative projects were discussed with, specifically, the next step to host a workshop to present the student renderings, to give the community the opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions, and provide ideas. The Administration was directed to bring a Memorandum of Agreement to the City Commission to collaborate with Florida International University (FIU) on an Inspirational Resilience Vision-Related Initiatives.

The City has previously agreed with work with Florida International University on resilience challenges as part of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Metro Lab Agreement, approved on through Resolution No. 2017-29808; and Resilient305 Strategy Action 49: Collaborate with Universities, approved on July 17, 2019 through Resolution No. 2019-30905.

The City of Miami Beach has participated in numerous resilience studies and projects focused on engaging images and dialogue for the future with respect to sea level rise.

Most recently, an FIU graduate-level architecture course led by Professor John Stuart, developed   innovative visions of how Miami Beach’s historic districts can be preserved and transformed into a more resilient neighborhood by 2070.  Titled “Historic Preservation, Sea Level Rise, and Inspirational Resiliency Visions for Miami Beach in 2070” (Attachment 2: Design Syllabus), the course focused on the Flamingo Park Historic District, from Meridian Avenue and from Lincoln Road south to Espanola Way. Throughout the Fall of 2020, the course provided an opportunity for FIU and staff to test resilience vision renderings with students (Attachment 3). 

Additional Miami Beach resilience vision-related planning work includes:

• Buoyant City: Historic District Resiliency Adaptation Guidelines (endorsed by City Commission on November 18, 2020);
•  Jacobs Engineering Blue Green Infrastructure Plan, Road Elevation Strategy and Neighborhood Project Prioritization (accepted by City Commission July 24, 2020);

• 2018 Urban Land Institute Stormwater Resilience Program Review that encouraged a robust communications plan (adopted by City Commission September 12, 2018);
  
  

• 2018 Harvard Graduate School of Design three-year study titled: South Florida and Sea Level- The Case of Miami Beach (presented to City Commission April 11, 2018);

• The University of Miami Isaac Stein’s visionary plan for Miami Beach senior thesis;

• 2014 Southeast Florida Climate Change Compact Resilient Redesign design charrette that explored future scenarios; and

• On-going UM School of Engineering Senior Capstone course focused on redesigning select city properties to be resilient in a future landscape, which all embraced the concept of “living with water.” 

The City was pleased to participate in the graduate-level architecture course “Historic Preservation, Sea Level Rise, and Inspirational Resiliency Visions for Miami Beach in 2070,” and share the resulting images with the Land Use and Sustainability Committee. 

Results from the Community Satisfaction Survey conducted in 2019 show that 44% of residents were very satisfied or satisfied with City efforts to be a green or sustainable City.  In addition, 43.1% of residents were satisfied with their building(s) flood risk protections.