The right to the resilient city: progressive politics and the green growth machine in New York City

We examine the post disaster history of a proposed resilience infrastructure capital project, the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, part of a larger proposed resilience infrastructure design called "The Big U." This proposed ring of bermed parkland around the waterfront of Lower Manhattan won $335 million in the Housing and Urban Development Rebuild by Design competition. The purpose of the Big U was to make the Lower Manhattan coastline resilient against storms and provide green space amenities to neighborhood residents. The Bjarke Ingels Group proposal created the East Side Coastal Resiliency section of the Big U design through an inclusive process with local residents. Yet, 6 years since Sandy and 4 years since the HUD award, the project had not yet broken ground and the final design had not yet been approved. We look at this resilience project to ask the question: does this project reflect the right to the resilient city, that is, is it being designed in the interests of low-income neighborhood residents adjoining the project, creating a more resilient city for everyone? Or, will the final design of the project repeat the problems of unequal post-disaster redevelopment?