The physical development of the city will directly affect the health of Kansas Citians, the environment, and the city’s overall resiliency to climate change. But as Kansas City grows, it can make sure environmental systems are protected and improved so everyone has a healthy, safe, and vibrant city to call home. Valuing and investing in the natural environment will improve the quality of life for Kansas City residents today and in the future.
Air, water, and soil systems, plus plant and animal habitats together make up the city’s natural resources. The health of those resources determines the quality of life of Kansas Citians because a contaminated environment can harm human health and well-being.
Our rapidly changing climate will have significant impacts on our natural systems and our people. Climate change is caused by factors on a national and global scale. Yet people and the environment are affected on a local scale. An individual city can’t directly influence these factors, but it can, at the local level, take steps to mitigate climate change and increase resiliency to its effects. Environmental resiliency refers to how well natural systems react to and rebound from the impacts of climate change.
Beyond the local level, Kansas City should participate in regional approaches to climate change to reach its climate goals. The city’s Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan provides a clear, equity-centered roadmap to reach Kansas City’s goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to flooding, extreme heat, and other likely effects of climate change.
The growth of the city itself also impacts the natural systems it depends on. Kansas City must develop sustainably and in harmony with the natural environment without degrading natural resources and systems. Also, natural open spaces must be preserved as necessary as new development occurs. Open spaces must be connected to create and preserve a system that protects ecosystems and natural resources (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective). The city can facilitate new development while also improving and maintaining the health of the natural environment.
Not everyone in Kansas City has benefitted from the city’s growth over many decades, and not everyone has had to shoulder the negative outcomes of that growth. The Playbook is equity-centered and aims to achieve environmental justice in all Kansas City communities. That means working to improve the health and well-being of people who have been historically disadvantaged due to the city’s growth and to mitigate the negative impacts of past development decisions.
For example, people of color and lower-income communities have endured poor physical health and an unhealthy environment due to industrial development and highway expansions. Kansas City must ensure climate change does not worsen or create inequities for communities and people who are particularly vulnerable: low-income communities, people of color, children, and the elderly.
The city must also lower its exposure to potential hazards and ensure it's adequately prepared to respond to emergencies. Stormwater must be managed effectively, while reducing floods and improving stream health and water quality. New development must not be built in areas prone to flooding or other hazards. Levees are also crucial to protecting Kansas City from major floods, and the city must invest in levees to make sure they are strong and stable.
The city must watch and respond to shifts, both in the climate overall and in weather patterns, to make sure it’s adequately prepared to respond to natural disasters. That includes regularly updating emergency action plans.
Strategies that can improve environmental health and resiliency include:
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS |
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Successful implementation of this Objective will result in drastically reduced greenhouse gas emissions in Kansas City. The city’s tree canopy will be expanded. A well-connected network of open green spaces will help protect against and remediate damage from major weather events. Air, water, and other natural resources Kansas City residents depend on will be clean and consumed in a sustainable way. The local ecosystem will thrive, and residents will have improved physical and mental health.
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- Better air and water quality
- Lower exposure to, and better preparedness for, natural disasters and other hazards
- Increased environmental justice and lower disparity in life expectancy among communities
- Reduced exposure to pollutants and improved public health
- Less exposure to extreme heat
- Improved quality of natural habitats and stream corridors
- Reduced impacts of climate change, particularly for vulnerable people
Climate change, natural resources, and pollution all impact human health and quality of life in Kansas City.
For more context, click HERE.
MEASURES OF SUCCESS |
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- Average site EUI buildings; new vs. renovated, use category (decrease)
- Greenhouse gas emissions, by sector (decrease)
- Total vehicle miles traveled (decrease)
- Urban tree canopy coverage (increase)
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Achieve a carbon-neutral, equity-focused, and resilient Kansas City by 2040 |
The Kansas City Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan (2022) is an equity-centered roadmap to reach the city’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Those goals are climate neutrality for city operations by 2030 and citywide by 2040. Many of the strategies in the Playbook, including this Objective, support this goal of carbon neutrality (see links below), especially strategies for mobility, compact and sustainable development, and preservation of natural open spaces. Implementing the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan should be coordinated with implementing Playbook strategies on climate resiliency. |
Be a regional leader in environmental protection and resiliency by cultivating regional partnerships and coordination |
Kansas City is positioned to boldly lead the way in green infrastructure, mobility, energy efficiency, clean energy, waste reduction, and natural ecosystem protection. City leadership can forge and strengthen partnerships with regional entities on these issues. The city must keep working cooperatively with other metropolitan jurisdictions and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to address environmental health, resiliency, and hazard mitigation. Environmental systems and natural disasters don’t adhere to legal boundaries. |
Support implementing climate protection and resiliency Plan Goals |
Though the Playbook endorses the goals of the 2022 Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, it doesn’t cover everything. More environmental policy related to how the city grows is needed, including an Open Space Master Plan (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective).
As the city updates area plans, it should incorporate the environmental goals of the Playbook and other citywide plans. Planning framework must be in place so the city can move forward together as a community and act strategically, with a long-term view and common goals. Once these plans are in place, the city must commit to funding, implementing, and periodically updating them, and tracking progress with strong, relevant metrics. |
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Develop sustainably |
The physical development of the city will directly affect the health of its residents and environment, and its overall resiliency. By developing in a sustainable way, the city can: - Minimize its footprint on the landscape
- Avoid development in environmentally sensitive areas
- Maximize the preservation of open space
- Expand walkable mixed-use development
- Create multimodal transportation systems and land use and development patterns that support them
- Expand green spaces and green infrastructure
- Build structures that use sustainably sourced materials and are energy efficient, and climate resilient
The city also must leverage existing infrastructure (streets, sewers, etc.) by prioritizing development in areas where it’s in place. At the same time, the city must direct public investment to encourage new development in areas that need reinvestment. (See the Development Patterns, Quality Development, and Community Development and Revitalization Objectives for more.
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COMMUNITY SUPPORTED ACTIONS (CSAs) |
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Achieve a carbon-neutral, equity-focused, and resilient Kansas City by 2040 |
EH-1 | Implement and regularly update the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan (adopted in 2022) that aims to achieve the City’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of climate neutrality for city operations by 2030 and citywide by 2040. It also aims to help our city adapt to flooding, extreme heat, and other climate change impacts. |
Be a regional leader in environmental protection and resiliency by cultivating regional partnerships and coordination |
EH-2 | Implement and regularly update the Regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan addresses severe weather (including tornadoes), dam and levee failures, and flooding (including floodplain mapping, management, and flood monitoring)- Continue to work with other metropolitan jurisdictions and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to plan for and coordinate issues of hazard mitigation and the natural environment.
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Support implementing climate protection and resiliency plan goals |
EH-3 | Identify and protect sensitive natural habitats.- Identify areas for protection and restoration through the Open Space Master Plan and area plans (as proposed in the Parks and Open Spaces Objective)
- Work with regional partners to regularly update the natural resources inventory and other data sets that help to identify and prioritize areas for conversation, restoration, and protection. Use these data sets to inform open space and habitat planning
- Identify and engage partners who have the capacity and funding to restore and maintain natural habitats. Create internal processes and policies necessary to manage and facilitate these partnerships and standardize/simplify processes (easements, agreements, etc.) needed to implement habitat projects on public lands
|
EH-4 | Restore and protect our streams and waterways (see also Parks and Open Spaces objective).- Regularly measure stream health and update stream health mapping
- Monitor changes in stream health over time. Identify and prioritize streams at high risk for degradation for additional protections and improvements
- Seek out and engage partners who can adopt individual stream corridors and assist with restoration, monitoring, and management
|
EH-5 | Implement green stormwater management solutions in public improvements and private development. - Implement the city’s Smart Sewer Program by practicing adaptive management approaches and integrating green infrastructure
- Implement stormwater management improvements, programs, and policies that focus on reducing/preventing flood events and combined sewer overflows, while also improving stream health and stability and water quality
- Periodically review and update relevant codes and standards to ensure they reflect best practices
|
EH-6 | Increase the use of green infrastructure and pervious surfaces throughout the city. - Adopt codes and standards that require green and pervious surfaces in new development and capital improvements
- Utilize open space areas within public rights of way (including areas around streets and highways) for native plantings or urban forestry or other projects that improve air and water quality, mitigate heat island effect, or help mitigate climate change
- Explore incentives and development code requirements to increase the use of native landscaping, preservation of existing mature trees and vegetation, creation of open spaces, and other measures to mitigate the urban heat island in new development
- Explore requirements for new development to take into consideration the physical character (existing vegetation, topography, viewsheds, streams, etc.) of the site and neighboring sites and work within that physical character
|
EH-7 | Increase the tree canopy and preserve existing trees. - Implement and regularly update the Urban Forest Master Plan (2018) to achieve the tree canopy goal of 35%
- Regularly update the tree canopy inventory
- Enhance existing tree preservation and planting programs and exploring new policy mechanisms (e.g., tree preservation ordinance) as recommended in the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan
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Develop sustainably |
EH-8 | Encourage compact design of new development and transportation infrastructure.- Adopt codes and standards that encourage compact design in new development
- Adopt codes and standards for capital improvements that maximize open spaces and minimize the impact on the natural environment
|
EH-9 | Enhance code requirements to promote open space conservation near stream corridors and in floodplains.- Direct non-sustainable development away from floodplains and environmentally sensitive areas by expanding the use of open space and conservation development options and identifying areas where these development styles should be required
- Prohibit deforestation within floodplains and other environmentally sensitive areas
- Periodically review and refine the city’s stream setback requirements
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Desirable Place Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable Healthy Environmental Systems Sustainable Growth and Resilient City
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Community Engagement Providing Services
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Related Plans and Policies |
KC Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan or Overflow Control Plan (or most recent Smart Sewer consent decree) For Mobility related plans see the following objectives: Access to Jobs, Connected City, Mobility, Public Transportation, and Regional Collaboration.
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The physical development of the city will directly affect the health of Kansas Citians, the environment, and the city’s overall resiliency to climate change. But as Kansas City grows, it can make sure environmental systems are protected and improved so everyone has a healthy, safe, and vibrant city to call home. Valuing and investing in the natural environment will improve the quality of life for Kansas City residents today and in the future.
Air, water, and soil systems, plus plant and animal habitats together make up the city’s natural resources. The health of those resources determines the quality of life of Kansas Citians because a contaminated environment can harm human health and well-being.
Our rapidly changing climate will have significant impacts on our natural systems and our people. Climate change is caused by factors on a national and global scale. Yet people and the environment are affected on a local scale. An individual city can’t directly influence these factors, but it can, at the local level, take steps to mitigate climate change and increase resiliency to its effects. Environmental resiliency refers to how well natural systems react to and rebound from the impacts of climate change.
Beyond the local level, Kansas City should participate in regional approaches to climate change to reach its climate goals. The city’s Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan provides a clear, equity-centered roadmap to reach Kansas City’s goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to flooding, extreme heat, and other likely effects of climate change.
The growth of the city itself also impacts the natural systems it depends on. Kansas City must develop sustainably and in harmony with the natural environment without degrading natural resources and systems. Also, natural open spaces must be preserved as necessary as new development occurs. Open spaces must be connected to create and preserve a system that protects ecosystems and natural resources (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective). The city can facilitate new development while also improving and maintaining the health of the natural environment.
Not everyone in Kansas City has benefitted from the city’s growth over many decades, and not everyone has had to shoulder the negative outcomes of that growth. The Playbook is equity-centered and aims to achieve environmental justice in all Kansas City communities. That means working to improve the health and well-being of people who have been historically disadvantaged due to the city’s growth and to mitigate the negative impacts of past development decisions.
For example, people of color and lower-income communities have endured poor physical health and an unhealthy environment due to industrial development and highway expansions. Kansas City must ensure climate change does not worsen or create inequities for communities and people who are particularly vulnerable: low-income communities, people of color, children, and the elderly.
The city must also lower its exposure to potential hazards and ensure it's adequately prepared to respond to emergencies. Stormwater must be managed effectively, while reducing floods and improving stream health and water quality. New development must not be built in areas prone to flooding or other hazards. Levees are also crucial to protecting Kansas City from major floods, and the city must invest in levees to make sure they are strong and stable.
The city must watch and respond to shifts, both in the climate overall and in weather patterns, to make sure it’s adequately prepared to respond to natural disasters. That includes regularly updating emergency action plans.
Strategies that can improve environmental health and resiliency include:
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS |
|
Successful implementation of this Objective will result in drastically reduced greenhouse gas emissions in Kansas City. The city’s tree canopy will be expanded. A well-connected network of open green spaces will help protect against and remediate damage from major weather events. Air, water, and other natural resources Kansas City residents depend on will be clean and consumed in a sustainable way. The local ecosystem will thrive, and residents will have improved physical and mental health.
|
- Better air and water quality
- Lower exposure to, and better preparedness for, natural disasters and other hazards
- Increased environmental justice and lower disparity in life expectancy among communities
- Reduced exposure to pollutants and improved public health
- Less exposure to extreme heat
- Improved quality of natural habitats and stream corridors
- Reduced impacts of climate change, particularly for vulnerable people
Climate change, natural resources, and pollution all impact human health and quality of life in Kansas City.
For more context, click HERE.
MEASURES OF SUCCESS |
|
- Average site EUI buildings; new vs. renovated, use category (decrease)
- Greenhouse gas emissions, by sector (decrease)
- Total vehicle miles traveled (decrease)
- Urban tree canopy coverage (increase)
|
|
Achieve a carbon-neutral, equity-focused, and resilient Kansas City by 2040 |
The Kansas City Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan (2022) is an equity-centered roadmap to reach the city’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Those goals are climate neutrality for city operations by 2030 and citywide by 2040. Many of the strategies in the Playbook, including this Objective, support this goal of carbon neutrality (see links below), especially strategies for mobility, compact and sustainable development, and preservation of natural open spaces. Implementing the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan should be coordinated with implementing Playbook strategies on climate resiliency. |
Be a regional leader in environmental protection and resiliency by cultivating regional partnerships and coordination |
Kansas City is positioned to boldly lead the way in green infrastructure, mobility, energy efficiency, clean energy, waste reduction, and natural ecosystem protection. City leadership can forge and strengthen partnerships with regional entities on these issues. The city must keep working cooperatively with other metropolitan jurisdictions and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to address environmental health, resiliency, and hazard mitigation. Environmental systems and natural disasters don’t adhere to legal boundaries. |
Support implementing climate protection and resiliency Plan Goals |
Though the Playbook endorses the goals of the 2022 Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, it doesn’t cover everything. More environmental policy related to how the city grows is needed, including an Open Space Master Plan (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective).
As the city updates area plans, it should incorporate the environmental goals of the Playbook and other citywide plans. Planning framework must be in place so the city can move forward together as a community and act strategically, with a long-term view and common goals. Once these plans are in place, the city must commit to funding, implementing, and periodically updating them, and tracking progress with strong, relevant metrics. |
|
Develop sustainably |
The physical development of the city will directly affect the health of its residents and environment, and its overall resiliency. By developing in a sustainable way, the city can: - Minimize its footprint on the landscape
- Avoid development in environmentally sensitive areas
- Maximize the preservation of open space
- Expand walkable mixed-use development
- Create multimodal transportation systems and land use and development patterns that support them
- Expand green spaces and green infrastructure
- Build structures that use sustainably sourced materials and are energy efficient, and climate resilient
The city also must leverage existing infrastructure (streets, sewers, etc.) by prioritizing development in areas where it’s in place. At the same time, the city must direct public investment to encourage new development in areas that need reinvestment. (See the Development Patterns, Quality Development, and Community Development and Revitalization Objectives for more.
|
|
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED ACTIONS (CSAs) |
|
|
Achieve a carbon-neutral, equity-focused, and resilient Kansas City by 2040 |
EH-1 | Implement and regularly update the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan (adopted in 2022) that aims to achieve the City’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of climate neutrality for city operations by 2030 and citywide by 2040. It also aims to help our city adapt to flooding, extreme heat, and other climate change impacts. |
Be a regional leader in environmental protection and resiliency by cultivating regional partnerships and coordination |
EH-2 | Implement and regularly update the Regional Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan addresses severe weather (including tornadoes), dam and levee failures, and flooding (including floodplain mapping, management, and flood monitoring)- Continue to work with other metropolitan jurisdictions and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to plan for and coordinate issues of hazard mitigation and the natural environment.
|
Support implementing climate protection and resiliency plan goals |
EH-3 | Identify and protect sensitive natural habitats.- Identify areas for protection and restoration through the Open Space Master Plan and area plans (as proposed in the Parks and Open Spaces Objective)
- Work with regional partners to regularly update the natural resources inventory and other data sets that help to identify and prioritize areas for conversation, restoration, and protection. Use these data sets to inform open space and habitat planning
- Identify and engage partners who have the capacity and funding to restore and maintain natural habitats. Create internal processes and policies necessary to manage and facilitate these partnerships and standardize/simplify processes (easements, agreements, etc.) needed to implement habitat projects on public lands
|
EH-4 | Restore and protect our streams and waterways (see also Parks and Open Spaces objective).- Regularly measure stream health and update stream health mapping
- Monitor changes in stream health over time. Identify and prioritize streams at high risk for degradation for additional protections and improvements
- Seek out and engage partners who can adopt individual stream corridors and assist with restoration, monitoring, and management
|
EH-5 | Implement green stormwater management solutions in public improvements and private development. - Implement the city’s Smart Sewer Program by practicing adaptive management approaches and integrating green infrastructure
- Implement stormwater management improvements, programs, and policies that focus on reducing/preventing flood events and combined sewer overflows, while also improving stream health and stability and water quality
- Periodically review and update relevant codes and standards to ensure they reflect best practices
|
EH-6 | Increase the use of green infrastructure and pervious surfaces throughout the city. - Adopt codes and standards that require green and pervious surfaces in new development and capital improvements
- Utilize open space areas within public rights of way (including areas around streets and highways) for native plantings or urban forestry or other projects that improve air and water quality, mitigate heat island effect, or help mitigate climate change
- Explore incentives and development code requirements to increase the use of native landscaping, preservation of existing mature trees and vegetation, creation of open spaces, and other measures to mitigate the urban heat island in new development
- Explore requirements for new development to take into consideration the physical character (existing vegetation, topography, viewsheds, streams, etc.) of the site and neighboring sites and work within that physical character
|
EH-7 | Increase the tree canopy and preserve existing trees. - Implement and regularly update the Urban Forest Master Plan (2018) to achieve the tree canopy goal of 35%
- Regularly update the tree canopy inventory
- Enhance existing tree preservation and planting programs and exploring new policy mechanisms (e.g., tree preservation ordinance) as recommended in the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan
|
Develop sustainably |
EH-8 | Encourage compact design of new development and transportation infrastructure.- Adopt codes and standards that encourage compact design in new development
- Adopt codes and standards for capital improvements that maximize open spaces and minimize the impact on the natural environment
|
EH-9 | Enhance code requirements to promote open space conservation near stream corridors and in floodplains.- Direct non-sustainable development away from floodplains and environmentally sensitive areas by expanding the use of open space and conservation development options and identifying areas where these development styles should be required
- Prohibit deforestation within floodplains and other environmentally sensitive areas
- Periodically review and refine the city’s stream setback requirements
|
|
|
|
|
Desirable Place Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable Healthy Environmental Systems Sustainable Growth and Resilient City
|
|
Community Engagement Providing Services
|
Related Plans and Policies |
KC Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan or Overflow Control Plan (or most recent Smart Sewer consent decree) For Mobility related plans see the following objectives: Access to Jobs, Connected City, Mobility, Public Transportation, and Regional Collaboration.
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