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Abstract Flood risks are rising across the United States, putting the economic and social values of growing numbers of homes at risk. In response, the federal government is funding the purchase and demolition of housing in areas of greatest jeopardy, tacitly promoting residential resettlement as a strategy of climate adaptation, especially in cities. Despite these developments little is known about where people move when they engage in such resettlement or how answers to that question vary by the racial and economic status of their flood-prone neighborhoods. The present study begins to fill that gap. We introduce a new typology for classifying environmental resettlement along two socio-spatial dimensions of community attachment: (a) distance moved from one’s flood-prone home; and (b) average distance resettled from similarly relocated neighbors. Next, we analyze data from 1,572 homeowners who accepted government-funded buyouts across 39 neighborhood areas in Harris County, Texas – Houston’s urban core. Results indicate that homeowners from more privileged neighborhoods resettle closer to their flood-prone homes and to one another, thus helping to preserve the social and economic value of their homes; homeowners from less privileged areas end up farther away from both. Implications for understanding social inequities in government-funded urban climate adaptation are discussed.
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This content will become publicly available on November 7, 2025
Gendered, Collectivist Journeys: Exploring Sociotechnical Adaptation Among Afghan Refugees in the USA
This paper presents findings from an empirical study that uncovers the economic, psychological, and socio-cultural adaptation strategies used by recent Afghan refugees in a midwestern U.S. state. Through 14 semi-structured interviews conducted between February and April 2023, this study investigates how Afghan refugees utilize technology, tools, and skills in their resettlement process, and builds upon Hsiao et al.'s conceptualization of sociotechnical adaptation. The findings reveal (i) gender and collectivist cultural values play a big role in determining the types of adaptation strategies used by men versus women, (ii) strategic choices in terms of the type of support sought depending on shared versus non-shared identity of host community members, (iii) a notable tension between economic adaptation and preserving socio-cultural values is observed, and (iv) creative, collective solutions by women participants to address economic challenges, contributing to the discourse on solidarity economies in HCI. Key contributions include (a) design implications for technological products that can aid in psychological adaptation, fostering solidarity economies, and creating digital safe spaces for refugees to connect with shared-identity host populations, and (b) policy and program recommendations for refugee resettlement agencies to enhance digital literacy among refugees.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2125012
- PAR ID:
- 10560883
- Publisher / Repository:
- Association of Computing Machinery
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- CSCW2
- ISSN:
- 2573-0142
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 32
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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