For the next several months, nine sites will be the focus of efforts to design for resilience as sea levels rise. Proposals involve "threading nature back into an urbanized terrain."
Resilient by Design's Bay Area Challenge has put ten multidisciplinary teams to work conceptualizing "a region where cities and nature are entwined more closely than ever before." Their impetus: the need to design places that can handle rising seas.
As John King writes, "The challenge, which is being funded by local governments and the Rockefeller Foundation, is modeled on New York and New Jersey’s rebuilding effort after Hurricane Sandy in 2012."
The Bay Area effort, by contrast, isn't a response to "calamitous damage." It's a bid to prepare for a gradual threat, and invites participants to reimagine how cities interact with nature. Many of the designs, King says, involve "threading nature back into an urbanized terrain, so to speak."
The challenge began with a competition last year, with the ten winning teams each receiving $250,000 for their projects. The final proposals are expected in May. "The months ahead will be spent burrowing into the specific locations, and reaching out to the surrounding communities to make sure there's widespread participation in the final proposals."
FULL STORY: Design competition tackles sites around Bay Area to address rising waters
Bay Area Developments at Risk From Sea Level Rise
A controversial proposed housing development in Newark exemplifies the struggle between increasing housing supply and protecting vulnerable shoreline communities from flooding.
Making the Bay Area Resilient By Design
The Resilient By Design Bay Area Challenge has produced nine designs to address sea-level rise and flooding around the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bay Area's First Climate Adaptation Project Could Be a North Bay Highway
State Route 37 is a vital highway connecting four North Bay counties plagued by two unrelated problems: chronic flooding during high tides and traffic congestion. Fixing the problem will set a precedent for Bay Area climate adaptation.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.
‘Displaced By Design:’ Report Spotlights Gentrification in Black Neighborhoods
A new report finds that roughly 15 percent of U.S. neighborhoods have been impacted by housing cost increases and displacement.
Nevada and Utah Groups Oppose Public Land Sell-Off Plan
A set of last-minute amendments to the budget reconciliation bill open up over half a million acres of federally managed land to sales.
More Than a Park: A Safe Haven for Generations in LA’s Chinatown
Alpine Recreation Center serves as a vital cultural and community hub in Los Angeles' Chinatown, offering a safe, welcoming space for generations of Chinese American residents to gather, connect, and thrive amidst rapid urban change.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions