Equitable Adaptation Planning in Historic Coastal Cities: Observations From an Architectural Practice

In communities all along the seaboard, we have large and challenging conversations ahead of us. Historic coastal cities must reconcile tensions between preserving a community's existing cultural heritage and the reality of planning for several feet of sea level rise in the coming decades. As more frequent tidal flooding and more extensive storm surges begin to affect the lowest-lying neighborhoods, cities and states are faced with decisions about where and when to invest in adaptation measures and at what scale. Adaptation measures will undoubtedly change the landscape of the existing built environment, which contributes to each community's cultural heritage and its collective psyche. How can a community move forward with the joint goals of preservation and protection?

The decisions are daunting and imagining a built environment that accommodates a rising sea can be a surreal exercise. Questions will be raised such as, what funds are available for large-scale infrastructure projects? Or, why is investment continuing in this neighborhood if it will be under water in fifty years? Architects may feel unequipped to enter these conversations. The easiest, and likely last, series of decisions in this process may be about how to elevate a building. However, before arriving at such a decision, an interconnected web of related conversations must occur. Despite one's reluctance to participate in such a daunting task, a designer's skill set is useful in the process. The assistance that is required of architects at the front end of preparing historic coastal communities for sea level rise includes gathering and presenting existing conditions data, facilitating robust and inclusive conversations, educating decision-makers, and illustrating options, all of which empower communities to work together toward an appropriate and equitable solution. Architects have an opportunity to not only facilitate and participate in adaptation planning conversations, but also to advocate for and influence the structure of decision-making processes to be more inclusive and participatory.

The following discussion highlights specific challenges in historic coastal cities, using several examples from our work in Rhode Island, as well as observations of state and municipal planning processes. As architects and urban designers, it is Union Studio's mission to enrich the lives of people and communities through the design of buildings and places for this generation and the next. We dedicate ourselves to projects ranging from large-scale neighborhood masterplans and public libraries to smaller-scale urban infill development and residential design. The change in scale from one project to the next compels us to consider the implications of small-scale design details on the overall character of a place and, conversely, the implications of broad regulatory policies on the design of a single building or home.