Playbook for the Pyrocene: Design Strategies for Fire-Prone Communities

This research project analyzed the ways in which designers can influence wildfire risk at the community scale.  The study focused on neighborhood urban design strategies to bridge the gap in existing knowledge between the parcel scale and the forest.  The team was able to thus “urbanize” the topic of fire risk reduction, which to date has focused on single homeowners or forestry professionals.  Findings were published in a booklet that clearly illustrates and spatializes six rules-of-thumb and 20 applied strategies for wildfire risk reduction at the community scale.  In addition, the appendix serves as a more comprehensive repository of topical resources, guidelines, best practices, and empirical research related to each strategy. The team reviewed current literature and synthesized key information from the fields of fire science, forestry, land use planning, and emergency management in order to provide practitioners with relevant guidance.  This resource will be an increasingly important design tool in fire-prone regions, as catastrophic wildfire events are projected increase in frequency and destruction.  The team partnered with University of Michigan on preliminary research.  This project extends SWA’s work on climate change adaptation.