Graduation Semester and Year
Spring 2026
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy
Department
Urban and Public Affairs
First Advisor
Dr. Diane Jones Allen
Second Advisor
Dr. Arydna Reyes Sanches
Third Advisor
Dr. Evan Mistur
Abstract
Cities face increasing pressure from rapid urbanization, aging gray infrastructure, intensifying rainfall, and uneven flood protection. In this context, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and other nature-based solutions are increasingly promoted as tools for climate adaptation, flood resilience, and environmental justice. Yet a central planning challenge remains: how to identify where GSI should be prioritized when flood-related physical burden, weak environmental protection, social vulnerability, and lower recovery capacity overlap. This dissertation addresses that challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, by examining how equitable GSI siting can support flood resilience in vulnerable urban neighborhoods.
Framed by urban resilience and environmental justice, the study develops a multi-scalar, GIS-based, AHP-weighted Flood Risk Index framework to operationalize the broader concept of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Desert (GSID). Rather than treating GSID as a simple supply-versus-demand gap, this dissertation defines it as a spatial condition of environmental and infrastructural under protection, where flood-aggravating environmental and infrastructural factors are concentrated and buffering, infiltrative, and stormwater-supporting conditions are limited. The Flood Risk Index is used to measure this condition across three connected scales: FRI-T at the census-tract scale, FRI-BG at the block-group scale, and FRI-ST at the street-segment scale.
The research design moves from citywide screening to neighborhood comparison, equity testing, corridor prioritization, qualitative road-segment interpretation, and policy/practice alignment review. At the macro scale, FRI-T identifies tract-level patterns of flood-related physical burden across Fort Worth. At the meso scale, FRI-BG refines the analysis within selected tracts and supports the comparison of Linwood and Northcrest as contrasting neighborhood contexts. A Social Vulnerability Index and a Capability-to-Recover Index are then used to evaluate whether higher flood-related physical burden also coincides with greater social vulnerability and lower recovery-supporting capacity. At each analytical scale, the Flood Risk Index functions as a standardized comparative score, where higher values indicate greater relative flood-related physical burden and higher planning priority within the tracts, block groups, or street segments being compared. At the micro scale, FRI-ST identifies priority road segments based on finer-resolution environmental conditions tied to corridor runoff and exposure. Qualitative road-segment observation further interprets how flood-related stress appears through parcel-to-street runoff, frontage design, right-of-way condition, green performance, pedestrian exposure, and street morphology. Finally, the policy and practice review examines how Fort Worth’s current stormwater, redevelopment, and flood-mitigation practices align with the empirical findings.
The findings show that Linwood emerged as the clearest case of GSID conditions in the dissertation. Compared with Northcrest, Linwood had a higher flood-related physical burden, higher social vulnerability, and lower capability to recover. At the corridor scale, 37 of 61 Linwood road segments, or 60.7 percent, were classified as high priority through FRI-ST. Field observation showed that the mismatch was not only an absence of formally installed GSI, but a performance-based corridor condition in which green support, parcel frontage, right-of-way condition, and street morphology did not consistently support stormwater management. The policy review further found that Fort Worth has recognized localized flood risk and has active stormwater and capital-project pathways, but equitable GSI siting is not yet fully embedded as an explicit vulnerability-informed, corridor-scale implementation process.
This dissertation contributes a planner-ready framework for translating flood-risk diagnosis into equitable corridor-scale GSI prioritization. It shows that climate adaptation and flood resilience planning require more than identifying flood-prone locations. They require a multi-criteria and multi-scalar planning process that connects physical flood burden, environmental justice, recovery capacity, corridor performance, and implementation authority. By linking GIS-based index modeling, equity testing, field observation, and policy review, the study provides a scalable approach for cities seeking to align GSI investment with the places where flood resilience needs and social vulnerability most strongly converge.
Keywords
green stormwater infrastructure, flood risk, flood resilience.Green Stormwater Infrastructure Desert, spatial equity
Disciplines
Environmental Design | Landscape Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Chitsazzadeh, Elnaz, "Equitable Siting of Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Urban Areas for Flood Resilience in Vulnerable Communities" (2026). Planning Dissertations. 1.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/planning_dissertations2/1
Included in
Environmental Design Commons, Landscape Architecture Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons