The Causeway: Bridging Disaster Relief, Recovery, and Climate Adaptation in the Anton Ruiz Watershed

The impact of natural disasters is often exacerbated by a disparity between resources for relief and recovery. When the barrio of Punta Santiago in Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September of 2017, many of its residents lived in the remains of their homes for over a year while they rebuilt from wind damage and flood waters that rose over 6 feet. As climate change leads to an even more constrained timeline for response with increasingly frequent and intense storms, the future of Punta Santiago and other coastal communities worldwide will necessitate strategies ranging from nature-based shore protection systems, coastal setbacks, and managed retreat. This thesis investigates the time disparate processes of disaster relief, recovery, and climate adaptation through the lens of their impact upon the interdependent identities of people and place as informed by theorists and designers including J.B. Jackson and Patrick Geddes. My approach works from the scale of the Antón Ruíz watershed to the delta to uncover the historical and contemporary processes that knit people in the region to the land. I identify commonalities in the immediate recovery needs and long-term resiliency of the community and ecosystems, and seek to support ongoing globally significant research of the rare coastal systems surrounding Punta Santiago. The proposed design, a causeway linking the coast to the hills, dovetails disaster relief and recovery with climate adaptation by providing a persistent connection that restores and reveals the dynamic coastal landscape.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Landscape Architecture

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Landscape Architecture

Department dc:contributor.department

Landscape Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Schiavoni, Alexandra Elizabeth

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• McSherry, Laurel

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Heavers, Nathan
• Marcucci, Daniel J.

• Landscape Architecture
• Site
• Place-making
• Climate Adaptation
• Resilient Design
• Puerto Rico
• Fishing Communities
• Coastal Ecology
• Freshwater Ecosystems
• Salt Marshes
• Mangroves
• Saltwater Intrusion
• Protected Area

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:21403

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/91404