Special Support for Submission Guidelines provided by Donna Kacmar and Susan Rogers from the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, Community Design Resource Center

SMALL – Individuals, Households & Small Businesses
     • Stable, safe and affordable housing
     • Access to affordable healthcare
     • Access to quality food sources
     • Employment & Income stability
     • Access to transportation – public and personal
     • Disaster preparedness and response
          Food / Water
          Cleaning & maintenance/repair supplies
          Personal Hygiene & Medical Supplies
          Communication/Support group connection

Questions:
     ● How do individual households become more resilient?
     ● What organizations/agencies assist with this?
     ● What information do people need?  And how is it distributed?
     ● How is assistance provided for those with high needs?
     ● How do individual households prepare for a disaster? What organizations/agencies assist with this?
     ● What happens immediately following the disaster?
     ● How are individuals provided with assistance?
     ● What do people need to recover long-term?
     ● What are the barriers to individual preparedness and recovery?

MEDIUM – Houses, Housing, Buildings, Businesses
     • Structures
     • Homes
     • Schools / Childcare / Early Childhood Education
     • Hospitals / Community Centers / Non-Profit Organizations
     • Businesses / Commercial Structures

Questions:
     ● What resources exist and are needed for assessing,  repairing and maintaining existing buildings?
     ● What can be done to prepare structures for a disaster?
     ● What needs to happen immediately after a disaster or power outage?
     ● What organizations/funders are assisting with recovery at the building scale?
     ● How do you design for future natural disasters? Or greater resilience? Elevating? Buyouts? New construction?
     ● What is the impact of our current building code, and how could these regulations be re-considered?
     ● What are the barriers to resilient design and construction?
            Possibly: What does resilient design look like for homes vs. commercial and institutional structures?

LARGE – Neighborhoods (including issues of equity and access)
     • Development
     • Environment
     • Industry (Toxic, Refineries)
     • Waste (Debris)
     • Wastewater (Infrastructure/Release)

Questions:
     ● What are the barriers to resilient communities?
     ● How do we assess and address resilience vulnerabilities at the neighborhood scale?
     ● How can new neighborhoods be developed and designed to create more resilient communities? How can existing neighborhoods be retrofitted to support more resilient communities?
     ● How do cycles of disinvestment and gentrification in neighborhoods threaten individual and cultural resilience?
     ● How can existing neighborhood groups like HOAs, PTAs, Civic Clubs and Super Neighborhoods support and generate resiliency efforts?
     ● What should happen at the neighborhood scale to prepare for a disaster? How can government, nonprofits and the private sector aid this preparation?
     ● What organizations/funders are assisting with neighborhood scale preparedness and recovery?
     ● What systems need to be working immediately following a disaster at the neighborhood scale? Transit, schools, etc.?
     ● What immediate resources should be available at the neighborhood scale?
     ● What needs to be in place for a neighborhood to organize and communicate following a disaster?

EXTRA LARGE – City / County / Region
     • Infrastructure 
     • Transportation (Roads, METRO, ride-share)
     • Bayous / Drainage Channels / Reservoirs
     • Council Districts - www.houstontx.gov/council/maps.html
     • Watersheds - https://www.hcfcd.org/drainage-network/harris-countys-watersheds/

Questions:
     ● What are the barriers to a more resilient city?
     ● How do cities and counties address stresses on long term resiliency such as inequalities in income, education, housing and access to food and healthcare.
     ● What development and planning models could create more resilient growth patterns?
     ● How does a region identify vulnerabilities to disasters such as weather, flooding, drought, terrorism and economic events?
     ● How does the city/county prepare for a disaster? At what scale is this necessary?
     ● What are the immediate responses at the city and county scale?
     ● Who are the organizations the city and county work in partnership with to prepare and respond to a disaster?
     ● How can we improve the available funding sources and structures for resiliency projects?
     ● What city and county systems need to be readied to respond to a disaster? Emergency first responders, transportation, schools, city offices, community centers?
     ● What are strategies for more robust flooding infrastructure?
     ● What strategies should the city and county have to address larger stresses on resiliency such as climate change and adverse political policies from State and National government.