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.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
USDOT Revokes Approval for NYC Congestion Pricing
Despite the administration’s stated concern for the “working class,” 85 percent of Manhattan commuters use public transit to enter the city.
Tiny House Villages for Addressing Homelessness: An Interview with Yetimoni Kpeebi
One researcher's perspective on the potential of tiny homes and owner-built housing as one tool to fight the housing crisis.
Preserving Altadena’s Trees: A Community Effort to Save a Fire-Damaged Landscape
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena Green is working to preserve fire-damaged but recoverable trees, advocating for better assessment processes, educating homeowners, and protecting the community’s urban canopy from unnecessary removal.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Investigation Reveals Just How Badly California’s Homeless Shelters are Failing
Fraud, violence, death, and chaos follow a billion dollar investment in a temporary solution that is proving ineffective.
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.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research