We are excited to announce that the Keeping Current: Repetitive Loss Properties design competition is open! Van Alen Institute, in collaboration with the City of North Miami, is looking to identify an interdisciplinary team to develop a master plan and pilot project to reimagine public uses for flood-prone vacant lots (formally known as FEMA-designated repetitive loss properties).

North Miami is one of the most flood-prone communities in Miami-Dade County and local council members want to design and implement climate-adaptive solutions to protect it. Repetitive loss (RL) properties constitute a significant drain on the resources of the National Flood Insurance Program, costing about $200,000,000 annually, and the number of RL properties nationally is expected to account for 25-30% of flood insurance claims.

Van Alen and the City of North Miami look to identify strategies to address the social and financial strains RL properties place on communities and government, so that other cities can benefit from the learnings and investment of this competition. This is a national issue, and we are looking to pilot solutions at a local level.

This competition asks: How can we design spaces that promote climate-consciousness? How can we reimagine underutilized communal spaces to bring the community together and adapt to climate impacts over time? How can these sites be repurposed to reduce the cost of flood insurance for communities?

This is a two-phased competition with the chance to win a total of $85,000.