Storm smart planning for adaptation to sea level rise : addressing coastal flood risk in East Boston

Regardless of how well we implement sustainability plans, now and in the future, the weight of scientific evidence indicates that mean sea level will continue to rise at an increasing rate over the next century. Thus, coastal lands and development lie in a precarious position, increasingly vulnerable to flood damage brought by storm surges and extreme weather events. In order to avoid disastrous losses of property, life, ecological health and social wellbeing, our cities and regions must quickly implement adaptation plans that consider plausible climate models. Coastal risk can be managed through rigid protections, soft landscape solutions, and land use decisions and regulations. In developing and implementing adaptation plans, it is important to understand the options and their applicability to different site contexts. Experts warn that today's once-in-a century flood will likely occur every two or three years by 2050!' However, Boston, like many other U.S. coastal cities, is in the early stages of devising adaptation plans that seek to reduce coastal flood risk from sea level rise. As implementation of adaptation plans may take several years or decades, Boston should act quickly to strategically consider its options. This thesis examines the effectiveness of different planning approaches to hazard mitigation in urban coastal areas and applies them to at-risk sites in East Boston under coastal flood scenarios for the years 2050 and 2100. Two sites in East Boston, one with a soft edge and one with a hard edge, create two distinct urban landscapes for design solutions.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Wolff, Victoria H

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James Wescoat.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50122

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/50122