As more communities have to consider relocation, we explore what happens to the land after people leave
As more communities have to consider relocation, we explore what happens to the land after people leave
As more communities have to consider relocation, we explore what happens to the land after people leave
Once floodwaters subside, talk of planned retreat inevitably rises.
Within Aotearoa New Zealand, several communities from north to south – including Kumeū, Kawatiri Westport and parts of Ōtepoti Dunedin – are considering future relocations while others are completing property buyouts and categorizations.
Planned retreats may reduce exposure to harm, but the social and cultural burdens of dislocation from land and home are complex. Planning, funding and physically relocating or removing homes, taonga or assets – and even entire towns – is challenging.
Internationally, research has focused on why, when and how planned retreats occur, as well as who pays. But we explore what happens to the places we retreat from. Our latest research examines 161 international case studies of planned retreat. We analyzed what happens beyond retreat, revealing how land use has changed following withdrawal of human activities.
We found a wide range of land use following retreat. In some cases, comprehensive planning for future uses of land was part of the retreat process. But in others we found a failure to consider these changing places.