Climate change will affect communities in diverse and differentiated ways, so adaptation approaches must strive to address social justice in order to reduce inequality. This paper applies a social justice framework to examine planning for sea level rise in a densely populated coastal settlement in eastern Australia. The Lake Macquarie area is highly vulnerable to sea level rise with local adaptation planning already underway. An in-depth case study is presented that draws upon 19 interviews with key informants and householders and a structured document and media analysis from 12 newspapers. This qualitative data was analysed to identify: the range of understandings of what is just in planning for sea level rise; and key factors that influence perceptions of justice in planned retreat scenarios. The study concludes that there is a need for guiding principles in decision-making that explicitly address social justice in order to realise more equitable outcomes.
CITATION STYLE
Frost, L., & Miller, F. (2021). Planning for social justice, anticipating sea level rise: the case of Lake Macquarie, Australia. Australian Geographer, 52(2), 171–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2021.1917327
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