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Concept
Managed retreat
Summary
Managed retreat involves the purposeful, coordinated movement of people and buildings away from risks. This may involve the movement of a person, infrastructure (e.g., building or road), or community. It can occur in response to a variety of hazards such as flood, wildfire, or drought.
Politicians, insurers and residents are increasingly paying attention to managed retreat from low-lying coastal areas because of the threat of sea-level rise due to climate warming. Trends in climate change predict substantial sea-level rises worldwide, causing damage to human infrastructure through coastal erosion and putting communities at risk of severe coastal flooding.
The type of managed retreat proposed depends on the location and type of natural hazard, and on local policies and practices for managed retreat. In the United Kingdom, managed realignment through removal of flood defences is often a response to sea-level rise exacerbated by local subsidence. In the United States, managed retreat often occurs through voluntary acquisition and demolition or relocation of at-risk properties by government. In the Global South, relocation may occur through government programs. Some low-lying countries, facing inundation due to sea-level rise, are planning for the relocation of their populations, such as Kiribati planning for "Migration with Dignity".
In the United Kingdom, the main reason for managed realignment is to improve coastal stability, essentially replacing artificial 'hard' coastal defences with natural ‘soft’ coastal landforms. According to University of Southampton researchers Matthew M. Linham and Robert J. Nicholls, "one of the biggest drawbacks of managed realignment is that the option requires land to be yielded to the sea." One of its benefits is that it can help protect land further inland by creating natural spaces that act as buffers to absorb water or dampen the force of waves.
Managed realignment has also been used to mitigate for loss of intertidal habitat.
Official source
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