Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A)

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Mark Starik

Abstract

In North Carolina, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a grant program to assist communities with purchasing flood–prone, private properties to decrease the effects of flooding within flood–prone communities. In flood management, incorporating the Sponge City concept within federally acquired properties is not widely considered by flood management professionals as an effective means to manage floods. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the feasibility of incorporating the Sponge City concept on federally–acquired properties to reduce significant flooding within designated flood–prone communities. The concept of disaster recovery, which focuses on the process of restoring, rebuilding, and reshaping a community to enhance its adaptability to disasters, and the theory of resilience and stability in socio–ecological systems, which explores the economic and social functioning of a community immediately after a disaster and long–term recovery, were used as the conceptual framework in the study. The case study analysis was conducted via video conferencing, teleconference, and in–person interviews of three municipal flood management professionals and three private flood management professionals; scholarly articles and government documents were analyzed thematically. The study results showed that each participant believed that more education on the concept would be necessary to facilitate the onset of future flooding. Recommendations for future studies include educating flood management professionals on the concept, and an endorsement by FEMA and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety can help with flood mitigation efforts, which is an implication for positive social change.

Download

Included in

Public Policy Commons

Share

 
COinS