Land use patterns and practices have a powerful intersection with climate change in Delaware. Patterns of growth and development influence current and future greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation, buildings and electricity sectors. They also determine whether the state can maximize carbon storage in natural lands.

Decisions about where to locate homes and businesses also define the state’s flood vulnerability, communities’ disaster recovery capacity and ultimately Delaware’s potential exposure to losses from climate impacts.

Improved land use practices can be a solution for not only climate change, but also the severe housing shortage, protection of farmland and natural areas, and traffic congestion. There are four primary opportunities to meet these challenges:

1. Promote dense, connected, multi-modal friendly communities
2. Remove barriers to infill development
3. Preserve Delaware’s farms, forests and wetlands
4. Avoid new development in flood prone areas

The opportunities for land use practices outlined above are reflected throughout the 2025 Delaware Climate Action Plan and specifically in the following strategies:

• R3: Provide technical assistance to local governments to incorporate climate change into planning efforts.
• T1: Improve bus transit ridership by improving travel times, service frequency, efficiency and coverage.
• T3: Expand multimodal transportation options in communities.
• T4: Adopt a plan to complete a statewide multimodal network.
• T5: Improve access to bikes.
• T6: Design communities for pedestrian and cyclist safety.
• A5: Preserve agricultural lands.
• N1: Protect, conserve and expand forested lands.
• O1: Protect and preserve existing wetlands.
• P2: Protect and preserve tidal and non-tidal wetlands.
• H5: Support infrastructure and building designs that reduce heat impacts.
• P4: Create or enhance green spaces.
• P7: Protect homes and buildings from flooding.
• R1: Enhance the resilience of natural landscapes and agricultural lands.
• R2: Invest in nature-based solutions and infrastructure improvements that support resilience to multiple hazards.

Related Topics:  actions, climate action plan, climate change, climate coastal energy, development, flooding, greenhouse gas, land-use, sea level rise, sustainability