J.M. Keenan

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5784344 This article sets forth the proposition for a digital civic universe (DCU) as a both common data ontology and a hybrid spatial medium for integrating the three and four dimensions of state-sponsored climate adaptation plans, civic adaptation realities and design interventions in the built environment. The authors, taking the U.S. as example, state that City Adaptation Maps (CAM) and National Adaptation Maps (NAM) conceptualized as a DCU platform could offer new ways for designing an adaptive and sustainable future.


Keenan, Jesse M., Jover, Margarita, & Ali, S. Omar. (2021). Climate Futures and the Digital Civic Universe. Topos: The International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 117(1), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5784344

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https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2020154821 This article posits that design of climate adaptation interventions is co-aligned in process with the social diffusion of innovation. As such, innovation is fundamentally a differentiation to the status quo through trial-and-error that is designed to fail and circumvent, as much as it is designed to insulate and transform. Through cycles of creation and failure, social, financial and ecological capital are reorganized within an adaptive cycle—a process that simultaneously offers the promise of both a subjectively more equitable and more exploitive set of potential outcomes. Adaptation has long been regarded as neither good nor bad—it is merely a social process of learning and trade-offs from which some may benefit and others may bear the burden. This article challenges the rhetoric that resilience and adaptation activities universally yield positive outcomes for society and ecology. To the contrary, only in an optimal scenario would such activities yield a net positive result of a more equitable and just future. In some cases, designed adaptations may be failures for some and successes for others.

Cite as: Keenan, J.M. (2020). The Positive, Negative and Neutral Outcomes of Designed Adaptation in the Built Environment. ZARCH: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism. 15(1), 154-163. doi:10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2020154821

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5246207  This report of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), as part of the 4th Regional Plan, outlines a framework for the governance, resourcing and funding of coastal adaptation strategies and interventions in the New York City metropolitan region.

Cite as: Montemayor, L, Korman, E., Freudenberg, R., Calvin, E., McCory, S., Jones, C., Simons, D., & Keenan, J.M. (2017). Coastal Adaptation: A Framework for Governance and Funding to Address Climate Change. Regional Plan Association. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5246207

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247403  This Policy Brief (this “Brief”) helps partially answer the question as to who really benefits from 421-a. The research provides an empirical basis for supporting the pending legislative proposal of the Mayor of the City of New York (Mayor’s Office) which is supported by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). This research highlights the disproportionate benefit gained from condominium development which is no longer consistent with either the Mayor’s or the Governor’s public policy goals. However, it also highlights the extent to which affordable housing has been produced under the program and the extent to which there is capacity for future development utilizing the subsidy. While not definitive in its analysis, as the exogeneity of the city’s real estate markets defies precise scientific testing, most economists polled on the issue agree that the subsidy has already been priced into the
land price and is offering marginal benefits to certain markets and demographics. However, the slim margins for affordable housing—together with declining federal subsidies—dictate that the current deal being put forth before the state legislature has the potential to fundamentally support the provision of affordable housing in a manner
which is economically on par with other production subsidies. However, it is not just about affordable housing. The city also has the responsibility to promote vast amounts of market rate rental housing to support middle-income households who are also feeling the pressure of a lack of a lack of relative affordability. It is anticipated that this
Brief will help inform the current policy debate, as the outcome of the debate will have tremendous impacts on the housing of millions of New Yorkers.

Cite as: Li, Serena Y., & Keenan, J.M. (2015). Policy Brief: The Beneficiaries of New York City's 421-A Tax Exemption Program. Center for Urban Real Estate, Columbia University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247403

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5259444  In a city as diverse as New York, there are few issues relating to urban policy where consensus is fairly uniform across the public, private and civic sectors. However, it is universally acknowledged that one of the city’s greatest challenges is one of housing affordability. Within the landscape which provides very little developable raw land within the five boroughs, there is an emerging consensus that greater levels of residential density are inevitable in order to ameliorate the limited supply of housing which is amplified in its negative consequences by a remarkable inelastic demand—particularly for middle income housing. It is anticipated that in the coming months, the City of New York will be advancing state legislation in Albany to repeal Section 26.3 of the Multiple Dwelling Law in order to remove the 12.0 FAR limitation for residential buildings. This policy brief provides an abbreviated historical narrative which explains, in part, the logic and circumstances by which the 12.0 limitation was derived.

Cite as: Keenan, Jesse M., & King, Cecily C. (2015). Policy Brief: A History of the FAR Limitation Under the New York Multiple Dwelling Law. Center for Urban Real Estate, Columbia University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5259444

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5248356  Keenan, J.M. (2020). Promise to Progress in the Ecological Medium. In Reed, C. & Lister, N. M. E. (Eds.). Projective Ecologies. 2nd Edition. New York, NY.: Harvard University Graduate School of Design / ACTAR. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5248356

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5259670 This paper explores the legal and financial viability of a series of state trust funds designed to provide financial products to support interventions advanced in the name of climate change adaptation and resilience in the New York Metropolitan Region. The subject financial model, known as a Regional Resilience Trust Fund (RRTF), would be governed by a Regional Resilience Commission (RRC) made up of political appointees from the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who would serve as stewards of each state’s respective trust fund. This paper evaluates the proposition that the RRTF could be feasibly capitalized by a surcharge on certain regulated insurance lines (Proposition A). Second, based on the assumed validity of the First Proposition, the paper evaluates the proposition that the RRTF could sustainably support a range of financial products, including grants, low-cost loans, non-recourse loans and market-rate loans that could accommodate 100% of the states’ unmet resilience needs, as defined by existing disaster resilience plans (Proposition B). The findings of this research support an affirmation of the legal and financial feasibility of the RRTF pursuant to Proposition A. Consistent with Proposition B, this paper provides evidence in support of a sustainable portfolio strategy for products supporting a range of potential projects, from short-term community resilience planning to long-term infrastructure finance. With the exception of Connecticut, the modeled assumptions of the RRTF could not support an affirmation of the proposition that a RRTF could fulfill 100% of the unmet resilience needs of the states. However, the findings do support an alternative proposition that the RRTF may be able to accommodate a significant portion of unmet resilience needs. This paper provides a broader strategic understanding of how products and portfolios can be designed to operate in the uncertainties associated with climate change.

Cite as: Keenan, Jesse M. (2017). Regional Resilience Trust Funds: An Exploratory Analysis for the New York Metropolitan Region. Regional Plan Association. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5259670

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247182 There are a number of cities in the U.S. that arguably represent superior set of quantitative and qualitative characteristics for accelerating this merger of people, culture and capital. Whether it is a function of environmental impact, resource depletion, regional economic growth, labor and wage elasticities, or simply things like the availability of potable water, there are any number of factors that may be weighted by households in the processing of determining if, when and where to relocate. For those households with some measure of elective mobility, this can be framed within a broader set of climactic and consumer-oriented amenities. Very often these consumer preferences are shaped within a broader context of global change that adds additional weights to an aging society, income inequality and social marginalization.

While there are many potential factors, it could be argued that the most reductive forms of influence may relate to whether a receiving zone—where climate migrants move to—is affordable, accessible and authentic. This paper highlights one experimental project (2018–2019) that sought to connect climate demography and economic development marketing, as mediated by the consumption of the built environment and the formulation of a visual brand identity. This exploratory project started with two simple questions. How could Duluth, Minnesota market itself to attract climate migrants (hereinafter “climigrants”)? What is Duluth’s capacity to physically, economically and socially adapt?

Cite as: Keenan, Jesse M. (2019, April 15). Destination Duluth: Competitive Economic Development in the Age of Climigration. 2019 Global Shifts Colloquium: A Changing Climate, A Changing World, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA., USA. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247182

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5246133  The Southern Manhattan Coastal Protection Study: Evaluating the Feasibility of an MPL report (the “Feasibility Study”) was conducted by a team led by ARCADIS U.S., Inc.. The team also included HR&A Advisors, Inc., FXFOWLE Architects, WXY Studio, Sive, Paget & Riesel P.C., AKRF, Inc., Ocean and Coastal Consultants, and Jesse M. Keenan (Editor)(the “Study Team”). The Feasibility Study focused on an approximately 1.3-mile span of the eastern edge of Manhattan, from the Battery Maritime Building to Pier 35 (the “Study Area”). The Feasibility Study also analyzed adjacent areas that would be integral to a comprehensive flood protection solution for Southern Manhattan.

The Feasibility Study concluded that:
1) An multipurpose protection levee (MPL) is technically feasible in the Study Area and will not induce flooding either in adjacent neighborhoods or across the East River.
2) An MPL is legally feasible within the existing regulatory framework. However, the required permitting/approvals processes will be complex and lengthy.
3) An MPL is financially feasible and could not only be self-financing, but could also help finance complementary flood protection investments in Southern Manhattan.

The MPL options and conceptual development programs evaluated within the report were defined for feasibility analysis purposes; the findings within do not comprise a development proposal. The process to articulate, assess, and advance an actual development proposal for an MPL will be long and complex, and will require extensive local stakeholder engagement and coordination. The commitment to effectively address the known climate change risks must remain as the core driver of that process, especially regarding all future work that builds upon and follows up on this Feasibility Study.

Cite as: New York City Economic Development Corporation. (2014). Southern Manhattan Coastal Protection Study: Evaluating the Feasibility of a Multi-Purpose Levee. New York City Economic Development Corporation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5246133

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5791278 In today's rapidly changing World, the role of real estate has been affected deeply. To such a degree that the Center for Urban Real Estate sees an opportunity to transform the profession from within, stressing its creative potential and introducing an ethical code. CURE's ambition is to create a continuum between architecture and real estate, as part of the design disciplines. It may be a good moment to dive into the archives and look at some architects' attempts to provide for an open society. How much help do people need?

Cite as: Keenan, J.M. (ed.)(2014). Art & Science of Real Estate. Volume Magazine. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5791278

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https://doi.org/10.24148/cdir2019-01  This edited volume explores a range of considerations, experiences, perspectives and research shaping the intersection of community development and climate change adaptation in the United States.

Cite as: Keenan, Jesse M. (ed.)(2019). Community Development Innovation Review: Strategies to Address Climate Change Risk in Low-and-Moderate Income Communities. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. https://doi.org/10.24148/cdir2019-01

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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247742  This publication serves as a roadmap for exploring and managing climate risk in the U.S. financial system. It is the first major climate publication by a U.S. financial regulator. The central message is that U.S. financial regulators must recognize that climate change poses serious emerging risks to the U.S. financial system, and they should move urgently and decisively to measure, understand, and address these risks. Achieving this goal calls for strengthening regulators’ capabilities, expertise, and data and tools to better monitor, analyze, and quantify climate risks. It calls for working closely with the private sector to ensure that financial institutions and market participants do the same. And it calls for policy and regulatory choices that are flexible, open-ended, and adaptable to new information about climate change and its risks, based on close and iterative dialogue with the private sector. At the same time, the financial community should not simply be reactive—it should provide solutions. Regulators should recognize that the financial system can itself be a catalyst for investments that accelerate economic resilience and the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. Financial innovations, in the form of new financial products, services, and technologies, can help the U.S. economy better manage climate risk and help channel more capital into technologies essential for the transition.

Cite as: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (2020). Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System. In Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5247742

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