ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that while necessary, framing the decision to reside on a floodplain simply in terms of perception is limiting. It suggests that risk perception is insufficient in entirely explaining why individuals choose to occupy a flood-prone area. The chapter discusses a voluntariness is understood as the degree to which residents are constrained – by perception or external considerations – in their ability to freely accept the risk of living in a flood-prone area. It also argues that holistic frameworks for understanding the diversity of motivations that lead to floodplain occupation are lacking. Residents choose to accept the risk of living on a floodplain for myriad reasons. Environmental justice scholars might argue that particular external considerations like proximity to work push individuals into involuntary occupation of the floodplain despite their awareness of the risk. Multiple studies have reported differences in populations exposed to the two types of flood risk in Miami.
