I am using this webpage as a tester for a segment of my final project. My project idea stems from the contradiction that appears to exist between increased real estate development in coastal cities and the inevitable sea level rise that is to come in the next century, with the expectation that many of these properties are in areas destined for flooding and other disastrous effects caused by climate change.
I hope to map out this contradiction by contrasting datasets that visualize sea level rise predictions and flood risk alongside data that visualizes new property development in these areas. Increased investment in coastal development paints a false picture of how at risk some major cities are by climate change, and in ways that are not very far in the future.I would like my maps to act as a symbolic representation of a bigger issue that I personally feel deserves more attention, and through an angle that is not often taken. Already vulnerable communities are frequently discussed as obvious victims of climate change. Those at the top of the power chain in the infrastructure/planning world, however, are often not considered in terms of their own climate vulnerability, exacerbated by the choices that they make to turn short-term profits. Their poor decision making arguably has ripple effects in terms of how the general public perceives their own vulnerability as well.
Below, FEMA's 2050s 500 Year Floodplain is mapped with an overlay of the NYC Active Major Construction Data, filtered to show only new building construction.