Reconsideration of Resilient Landscape Architecture, Master Thesis,1

MASTER THESIS

RECONSIDERATION

Resilient Landscape Architecture Scenario in Future Land-Water Dynamics Design Process, Elbe-Insel,Hamburg

Fan Wen

RECONSIDERATION OF LAND-WATER DYNAMICS

A Resilient Landscape Architecture Scenario In Hamburg In Facing Future Flood Regime

Master Thesis

Verfasser: Wen, Fan

Matrikel-Nr: 03722066

Die Verantwortung für Inhalt und Wahrung von Urheberrechten liegt ausschließlich bei den Verfassern.

Fakultät für Architektur der Technischen Universität München Professur für Landschaftsarchitektur regionaler Freiräume Prof. Dr. Sören Schöbel

Tel: +49.8161.71.4152

Fax: +49.8161.71.4111

lareg_wzw.tum.de

Emil-Ramann-Straße 6

D-85350 Freising Weihenstephan

ABSTRACT

Key Words

Resilient Landscape Architecture, Landscape Urbanism, Open Space Planning,Water-Land-Dynamics, Flood-Reaction

This thesis is about to discuss a landscape architectural perspective of living with the change of water-land dynamics in the future centuries. It references theories of “resilient landscape architecture”, “landscape architecture urbanism”, “movable architecture” to provide a variety of approaches in facing the impact of rising sea levels.

It also intends to create a scenario in the future, changing the perception of foods in an urban context and the way to react to them. The possibility offered in this thesis is to bring the idyllic atmosphere into concrete urbanism.

Furthermore, it offers the drafting morphology of special constructions to bear multifunctioning space potential by focusing on example site planning in order to illustrate the concept.

TABLE OF CONTENS

1. STATE OF THE BACKGROUND ISSUE: UNDER THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONDITIONS

1.1 Facing an increasing conficting situation

1.2 Sea level rising regime

1.2.1 What is sea level rising to the human society

1.2.2 What rising sea levels bring to humanity

2. CLIMATE CHANGE REGIME & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

2.1 Mitigation and adaptation

2.2 Flooding regime

3. ACADEMIC THEORIES

3.1 “Mobile Architecture” – Yona Friedman

3.2 Resilient Landscape Architecture

3.2.1 What is resilient landscape architecture and its benefts

3.2.2 Robustness, Adaptability and Transformability

TABLE OF CONTENS

4. SPATIAL EXAMPLE STUDY: FLOOD REGIME IN HAMBURG

4.1 Hamburg, Wilhelmsburg and the development of the city skirts

4.2 Flood regimes in Hamburg

4.3 Spatial examples in Hamburg - comparing Hafencity and Wilhelmsburg

5. DESIGN

5.1 Framework & concept

5.2 Spatial Practice

5.2.1 Macroscale planning

5.2.2 “The Ring”

5.2.3 “The Line”

1 STATE OF THE BACKGROUND ISSUE: UNDER THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONDITIONS

1.1 Facing An Increasing Conficting Situation

While the amount of extreme weather worldwide is widely arousing, the tension between humans and the environment is increasing. Since industrialization, human activities have changed the earth’s living environment more rapidly than ever. In the year 2021, the threats standing in front of us are not only a seemingly endless pandemic, but also extreme heat and drought in tropical lands like Sudan, unstoppable wildfres throughout Australia and lethal foodings in countries in northern Europe, including Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands All of the above illustrate to us that climate change is not invisible or exists only in an assumption anymore.We continue to fail to act on this problem, while still contributing to it.

As we continually release greenhouse gas, the climate utters its words back mercilessly. The rising of the global mean temperature for instance, resulted in abundant signifcant changes of our life. Sea levels rising came along with a consistent expansion of water volume and melting of glaciers. The rising sea level yet seems to be a mild gradual process for the time being, as it can’t be detected signifcantly. Or more to say, to those who live far inland, it sounds more like a Prediction rather than a happening reality. Admit it or not, it is a big threat that infuences millions of people following the horrendous potential of its damaging ability, shoreline retreats, extreme precipitations, tidal storms, etc. The movie The Day After Tomorrow might be exaggerating, but the reality can be horrifying to bear.

Figure 1: Flood In New York From The Day After Tomorrow © 2004 Twentieth Century Fox.

Landscape architecture is to create space for humans in nature coming through all years of practicing. As a subject taking not only aesthetic but also ecology value into consideration, we try to create the space for balancing humans and nature. Remaining idealism to solve a global threat by one subject is impossible. Yet there is always a starting stone of a domino game.

This thesis is to discuss a landscape architectural perspective of living with the change of water-land dynamics. It references theories like resilient landscape architecture and landscape architecture urbanism to apply a variety of methods in facing the impact of rising sea levels. To create a perspective in the future, it also intends to change the perception of foods in an urban context and a way to react to foods. It tries to offer a possibility to bring the idyllic atmosphere into concrete urbanism. Furthermore, it offers the drafting morphology of special constructions to bear multifunctioning space potential by focusing on example site planning.

1.2 Sea Level Rising Regime

To start with the thesis is to discuss the current threats we face: the sea level rising regime, which is one of the biggest threats rooted in global climate change.

It is discovered by scientists that sea level has been rising continuously. Reports from the Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) shows that the global mean sea level (GMSL) has risen nowadays by about 16-21 cm since 1900 (USGCRP 2017)1 and it will not stop due to human activities. The Special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) fnds that global mean sea levels will most likely rise between 0.95 feet (0.29m) and 3.61 feet (1.1m) by the end of this century. These are the most dire sea level rise projections ever made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC)2

1.USGCRP (2017). “Climate Science Special Report. Chapter 12: Sea Level Rise”. science2017.globalchange.gov.

2. Rob Moore (2019). “IPCC IPCC Report: Sea Level Rise Is a Present and Future Danger”. https://www.nrdc.org/experts/rob-moore/new-ipccreport-sea-level-rise-challenges-are-growing, 2021

Figure 2: Sea level rising Projection, GSFC/PO.DAAC

Figure 3: David McCandless,et al 02.2014, Informationsibeautiful.net

To illustrate the prediction more obviously, David McCandless made the fgure to illustrate the relation between rising centimeters of sea level with the different located cities worldwide.

By a 1.1 meter rising level, Amsterdam and other cities in this altitude will no longer exist. Yet this is still a “dire” projection, reality can be worse if we keep on the same pace of emissioning which is yet an optimistic projection of our behavior.

1.2.1 What rising sea levels mean to human society

To identify rising sea levels is not as obvious as it seems , as earth is not a smooth all-even surface. To measure the rising sea, it normally refers to the rising of the global mean sea level (GMSL). Conducted by coastal tide gauges and satellites, GMSL consists of the increase of the volume and mass of the whole seawater. Given the various climate and different geographical conditions, the mass of seawater does not change uniformly global wise. Under this circumstance, normally GMSL can be seen as the sum of absolute rising sea levels and relative rising sea levels. Absolute rising sea levels1 explains that despite the nearby continent’s land situation, the rise of the ocean surface compared to the center height of the earth. It is normally measured by the satellite in orbit. Comparing to this, the relative rising sea levels2 explains that, taking the nearby land situation into consideration, the relative change of the sea level by it. It is normally measured by the tidal gauges set near the coast.

It is known that climate change is the main direct source resulting from SLR. Human activities which can be seen as the indirect reason for pacing up the climate change, eventually affects global sea levels. Due to climate change, the global temperature has risen, which leads to the thermal expansion of the ocean. On the other hand, due to the rising mean temperature, the melting ice from mountain glaciers and the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets3 increased the whole mass of seawater.

1. EPA(2016) .”Report on the environment, Sea Level”. EPAcfpub.epa.gov › roe › indicator_pdf

2. EPA(2016) .”Report on the environment, Sea Level”. EPAcfpub.epa.gov › roe › indicator_pdf

3. USGCRP (2017). “Climate Science Special Report. Chapter 12: Sea Level Rise”. science2017.globalchange.gov

1.2.2 What rising sea levels brings to humanity

As with crust movements, rising sea levels bring human phenomenal impacts. It varies from place to place, some get direct seawater inundation, some get extreme shoreline retreats, some might even experience drought or imbalanced water resource distribution. Overall the impacts can be seen as the composition of 1) direct impact coming along with SLR which build up the obvious result as the increased mass of water. And 2) indirect impact that resulted from the changing situation, which has no relation to the water anymore but the society or economy.

Direct Impacts

1) Flood/water inundation

Flooding can be seen as the most obvious risk that makes up for the direct impacts. Reports shows that over 20 million population living in an low-lying coastal area which will suffer directly from the high tide level resulted by sea-level rising (Robert J.Nicolls, 2011)1 . Over 10% of the global population (634 million) will be affected within a 10 meters rising sea levels (McGranahan et al. 2007)2, including 17 of 30 world’s largest cities, Shanghai, New York, Bangkok, London (Duncan M. FitzGerald et. 2008)3. Flood can be seen as a major threat to low-lying coastal lands, it can easily destroy existing infrastructure, lead to population and economic loss, and furthermore cause water-borne diseases. On the other hand, foods can change landscape structures abruptly, the inundation is able to destroy coastal agriculture systems or lead to wetland loss. Eventually compound the situation of life in low-lying land more vulnerable with an abundance of uncertainties.

2) Land erosion

As sea level rises, it puts the nearby land in danger, not only from the food threat but also from a whole chain of consequences. Land erosion can be seen as another adequate impact that affects human beings. Despite the normal process of land erosion by waves or wind from the ocean, research suggested that the rapidly rising of sea levels may be accelerating this procedure (Anny Cazenave & Gonéri Le Cozannet 2013)4 and lead to shoreline retreats. Under this circumstance, it changes the coastal environment and structure while increasing the tension between population and land-use.

3) Salinization

As seawater inundated land, it brought salt within which leads to the change of salt situations in land soil, surface run-off and groundwater. Increasing salinization changes the potential of land use which would increase the tension within the agriculture system.

1. Robert J.Nicolls (2011) “Planning for the Impacts of Sea Level Rise”, Oceanography , Vol. 24, No. 2, SPECIAL ISSUE ON Sea Level (JUNE 2011), pp. 144- 157

2. McGranahan DA, Balk D, Anderson B. (2007). “The rising tide: assessing the risks of climate change and human settlements in low elevation coastal zones”. Environ. Urban. 19:17–39

3. Duncan M. FitzGerald, Michael S. Fenster, Britt A. Argow, and Ilya V. Buynevich, 2008 “Climate impacts due to Sea-Level Rise” Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 2008. 36:601–47

4. Cazenave, A., and G. Le Cozannet (2013), Sea level rise and its coastal impacts, Earth’s Future, 2, 15–34

1) Conficts in economical circles

Higher frequency and severity of food and extreme weather conditions can lead to destruction of existing infrastructures. The process of reconstructing requires investments with a gradual impact on regional economic plans. Altogether, different aspects contribute to various vulnerabilities from region to region. Where the vulnerability overloads, faces the negative result in economic growth. leaves the place in a vicious circle: no money to build the disruptive infrastructure, no infrastructure to recover from the destruction, no recovery to adapt to the situation, and no recovery to regain the economic growth.

From Stephane Hallegatte’s illustration, to react to an extreme food event requires a fortune to the local community. The expense to invest in such a disaster-proof reaction is also getting continuously higher as time goes by. Where we facs the most exposure towards the overwhelmed rising sea levels events with less ability to adapt/resist the negative results, regaining the higher vulnerability.

2) Social imbalance

While coastal land structure changes, it leaves people on the frontier in an unbalanced situation. Conficts between different land uses aroused. For instance, changes in salinity of soil, the retreat of the shoreline may come along with the destruction of the local farmer community, increasing the risk of facing the cultivation plan changing, and requires a reasonable amount of investment and adaptations. Reluctant migrations based on rising sea levels can also be expected, places where face the most problems and less managements may be abandoned as population retreated. It leaves the risk of social injustice with different social groups.

Figure 4: National Geographic Magazine, S.Hallegatte et al, 2013 NATURE

2.

2.1 Mitigation and adaptation

2.2 Flooding regime

CLIMATE CHANGE REGIME & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

2. CLIMATE CHANGE REGIME & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

2.1 Mitigation and adaptation

Mitigation and adaptation are humans responding towards the global climate change regime. it is a twopronged approach1. While mitigation focuses on reducing the source of climate change - greenhouse gasses, adaptation intends to improve living in a turbulent reality.

Mitigation attaches emphasis on reducing humans interference with nature by reducing heat trapping greenhouse gas into the air. Such an approach involves energy supply improvements, transportation system optimizing etc. which makes it long-running and future oriented.

Yet climate change remains a global condition, it still falls on local scale2. In facing rising sea levels, one of the consequences resulting from climate change, many places are put in the frontline. Adaptation intends to improve this local scale responding scenario. It came with the idea behind thousands of years in human history adapting to nature pre-industrial. The goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects3

It is surreal to deal with global climate change only through one subject, as in this thesis, it focuses on a local scale adaptation. The intention of this thesis’s approach is to respond to an exceptional future in facing the food coming with the sea level rising. The scenario out of the adaptive response is to apply resilient landscape architecture and fnd a variety of opportunities along with the current food-defense strategies.

Landscape architecture has dealt with the irrigation of water and the arranging of land for a long time. Water, as mentioned, plays one of the fundamental elements in the design process. Given that, this thesis intends to discuss the potential solutions in treating water-land dynamics in an evolving different scenario.

Over drifting amounts of water run off from the canal creates foods. As one of the most direct impacts born with rising sea levels , to deal with water-land dynamics, we should expect to deal with a potential food regime. Starting with history to the responses from humans towards fooding, the goal is to learn what role foods play in human society and then extend it to landscape architecture.

1. “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.” NASA. NASA, August 23, 2021 https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/

2. “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.” NASA. NASA, August 23, 2021 https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/

3. “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.” NASA. NASA, August 23, 2021 https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/

2.2 Flooding regime

From chronicle history over centuries, humans try to fgure out the meaning of foods and learn to respond to it, yet these approaches from different societies vary. Referencing from Frédéric L.M. Rossano’s book Floodscape-contemporary Landscape Strategies in Times of Climate Change, this thesis has a chance to glance at the human history regarding fooding.

From Fredreic’s1 description, it begins with is the epic food of the Sumerian thousands years before the common era. From the documentary the food plays a role of an ultimate power from divines by the time. It has the ability to wipe out the whole human kind, along with the rebirth of all kinds after foods. As food brings nutritions that can fertilize soil, within it, the survivors always get a big harvest. Ancient Mesopotamia is considered as a huge urban compact with advanced skills to store water, irrigate agriculture and food control. In those documents, food in this time plays a role of divine power that is sacred. While humans approach it is to take advantage of the power within. The fgures : “Wolley Trench Sketch”2 and “Water laid Deposit” 3 below shows the original concept of them.

1. Frédéric L.M. Rossano (2021), Floodscape-comtemperorary landscape stratgiees in times of climate change

2. “Wolley Trench Sketch” Expedition Magazine . (2014): n. pag. Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 2014 Web. 06 Feb 2022 <http://www. penn.museum/sites/expedition/?p=16717>

3. “Water_laid_deposits” Expedition Magazine . (2014): n. pag. Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 2014 Web. 06 Feb 2022 <http://www. penn.museum/sites/expedition/?p=16717>

Figure 5: Wolleys Trench Sketch, 2014, Expedition Magazine

Figure 6: Water Laid Deposit, 2014, Expedition Magazine

This divine story which makes food as the strength of god enhanced in the Greek & Roman mythology and inherited to another end to the bible in the west. Due to the control of catholic churches, humans started to take food more as a punishment from God, which left them nothing but to pray for a good omen. In this era, humans tend to fnd the moral explanation for the occurrence of a food, since the power and dominance of a god is not to doubt. It lasts as long as the power of the church remains, till the renaissance. The study of food and earth itself stretches along the whole renaissance, though it didn’t make it to learn the whole concept of food thoroughly, it released the power of nature from god eventually.

While outside the catholic religions, foods are no longer limited to a sacred shell that frightens people away. Believers in nature gods believers have been trying to fnd a way to adapt to it. In Europe, the Frisian are known to have lived with seasonal foods for a long time. By using the natural mount and terpen to secure people, goods, and livestock1. Through its food-adaptations, the Frisians gained a similar density of inhabitants as Paris or Cologne by the time 900 AD. While on another continent, the south area of Asia, the locals learned to live with foods as well. In the Southern area of China for instance, inhabitants made special elevated homes from water to secure their lives when high water hits. While attached with food adaptive planning, increasing buffering lakes in order to irrigate and release the strong power of food is also important. Floods took a frightening role along those societies as well, though it taught them a lesson of adaptation. Culture fourished always beside the river in the food-prone plains.

Compared to the ancient way of living with fooding, after industrialization, the role of foods switched. The progress of more advanced science and technology brought humans the power to shape land more than ever, along with the ego of defeating nature’s strength.

To early-era after industrialization in water management, controlling and banning played a dominant role. It rules out other options like elevating houses, surrendering to seasonal foods or treating water. The higher up dikes and advanced reservoir shows the ambition of humans, as it brings human victory in battling against high water levels, it also leaves the more dramatic results as it fails when it is just not high enough.

Turning to modern landscape architecture processes, in order to re-think the connection between humans and nature, it works with other disciplines to offer a new approach. As in bringing more natural adaptations, it starts to focus on a more resilience rather than a merely harder robustness. The goal of this renaturalization is also to offer us a switch of the impression of foods and nature, as it is rather being a power that we need to adapt to, than always trying to fgure out how to ban or dominate it.

1. Frédéric L.M. Rossano (2021), Floodscape-comtemperorary landscape stratgiees in times of climate change

NOAH’S ARK

Figure 7: Coenraet Decker, Noah’s ark in Mount Ararat, illustration for: Arca Noe, Athanasius Kircher, 1675

MORDERN RESILIEN PRACTICES

Figure 8: Isar competition, 2003-2005: frst prize (Burckhardt/SKI), second prize (Jerney/EDR), fnal compromise (Burckhardt/Jerney/SKI) (State of Bavaria and City of Munich).

Figure 9: Living Break Water Concept Drawing, SCAPE Studio ,2014 Rebuild By Design Competition

3. ACADEMIC THEORIES

3.1 “Mobile Architecture” – Yona Friedman

3.2 Resilient Landscape Architecture

3.2.1 What is resilient landscape architecture and its benefts

3.2.2 Robustness, Adaptability and Transformability

3. ACADEMIC THEORIES

To develop a holistic response framework in facing fooding, there are several theories that can be used: construction framework ideas. As in facing foods, construction ideas support the concept practically, while the concept framework offers a holistic perspective that can guide a more meaningful construction. In this thesis, I summarized two theories that inspire and direct my design. Construction wise, it focuses on a utopia theory from the architect Yona Friedmann and several stilt house practices in southern Asia and China. Framework wise, the resilient landscape architecture brings idea pieces in a whole chain. In order to unfold the mentioned design process in this thesis smoothly, this chapter is about introducing the academic theory backgrounds.

As mentioned above, the architecture practice of stilt houses fascinates me. According to the nature law, gravity drags water to fll up the lower terrains. Former inhabitants by the sea and food-prone plains followed this law to build up the potential of the upper space. As if the plan goes rather vertical than horizontal with the built up layers. For centuries people who lived in southern China and the Indo-Pacifc area, have lived with the mindset and harmonized with seasonal foods. They mounted special Stilt houses, an architecture type that arose from ground to ensure life away from foods in the high water season, focusing on fshing and water-base cultivation. Meanwhile in the dry season, the Stilt house also provides the layer beneath multi functions, working, storage, livestocking etc. for instance.

Extracting the concept behind stilt houses, it mainly focuses on building different layers in order to adapt to various natural conditions. It is a concept that by increasing adaptabilities to lower the vulnerability in facing cruel risky disturbances. By then the material was mainly focused on wood, as it is cheaper and easier to acquire. Despite the robustness of wooden materials, the supportive columns require a much higher frequency maintenance. In the modern era, thanks to the progress of material studying, not only wood but also steel and glass can be used for this type of architecture. It provides a new sound version of this building process.

While following the idea of layering up the living platform, Yonna Friedman introduced his utopian concept of mobile architecture with a steeling city image. It shows the potential of extending the similar concept from a stilt house to a whole layer of urban fabric above the existing city.

Figure 10: fgure: @yamashitaphoto, 02.2016, Instagram

3.1 Mobile Architecture – Yona Friedman

In 1960, Friedman introduced his concept of mobile architecture from his Ten principles of L’Architecture Mobile. Yet the main idea is to give residents the fexibility and to enhance the freedom of individual space, the method which in order to support the incorporated individual units is a large structure frame form that stands by tall columns. It is supposed to have little impact on the ground. As it can be used also for expansional renovation and planning for an unwanted old region.

In this theory, Friedman purposed 10 principles1 to make it feasible. It is not merely about architecture itself, but also spreads to urban structure planning.

Principle 1: The future of cities: recreation centers. Other functions are increasingly automated.

Principle 2: The new society of cities should be unaffected by the planner.

Principle 3: Agriculture in the city is a social necessity.

Principle 4: The city must be “climatized”.

Principle 5: The buildings that form the city must be on an industrial scale.

Principle 6: The new city should be the intensifcation of an existing city.

Principle 7: The technique of three dimensional urban planning also allows juxtapositions (positioned next to, red.) or superimposed (, red) to different neighborhoods.

Principle 8: Buildings must be skeletons that are refllable at will.

Principle 9: The city of three million inhabitants represents the empirical optimum, this statement is based on the observation that cities with fewer than 3 million inhabitants tend to be too provincial and cities over 3 million inhabitants become too large.

Principle 10: The entire population of Europe in 120 cities of 3 million inhabitants.

In expanding the theory to a project, Friedman made the example Ville Spatiale, an elevated city space. In this project, he showed the unnecessaries of demolishing old cities for the new residents. It also illustrated the potential of creating an elevated city for its advantages of diminishing and expanding the city outwards. In this project, he combined many of his principles: the fexibility of housing to enhance the freedom of choice for the individual, the fexible multilayered use of city space and the grip of city dwellers to give meaning to their environment2.

To sum up Friedman’s projects, the concept behind is, by using elevated layers of urban fabric to provide human dignity and autonomy in a current crowded context. Form wise it shares the same concept of stilt houses or mounted houses from Frischens, to provide an urban context with multi functioning layers and different potentials. His theory offers a glance of how modern constructions work more than merely functioning machines, but also an identity bearer or a unique piece of urban fabrics. The levering up construction layers along with the stilt house provides us with a various approach in facing fooding. By establishing constructions like this, it allows human retreat from the frontline of fghting with food with dignities to a new layer of expanding urban context with potential.

1. Friedman. (n.d.-a). principles of mobile architecture. Yona Friedman. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from http://www.yonafriedman.nl/

2. Friedman. (n.d.-a). principles of mobile architecture. Yona Friedman. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from http://www.yonafriedman.nl/

Figure 11: Yona Friedman | Ville Spatiale in Binckhorst, 2010,Dpr-Barcelona

Figure 12: La Ville Spatiale”Courtesy Yona Friedman Archives, Paris

3.2 Resilient Landscape Architecture

3.2.1 What is resilient landscape architecture and its benefts

By the time 1973, Holling frst proposed the idea of resilience thinking, as his point of view, resilience is the ability of a system to absorb disturbances, while remaining its function1. Afterwards it was being widely applied to different disciplines such as engineering, psychology, etc.

While for a long time, in facing the radical changing living conditions, to respond to the global climate change, landscape architecture leaned on pursuing a more sustainable method. In order to achieve the so-called sustainable landscape architecture, many approaches were applied, despite the extreme complexity and vague defnition of sustainability. As this goal remains under improvisation, resilient landscape architecture starts to play a role in the feld. Thanks to Holling and the rest of scholars, resilience has a clearer defnition and more comprehensible process in developing with ecology value attached. Combining landscape ecology has the resilient landscape architecture gaining its popularity among professionals and developed in recent years. Practices like ISARRAUM renaturalization, Manhattan waterfront rethinking competitions, SCAPE Landscape architects Oyster dykes plan, etc.; These approaches allow landscape architecture design to be more resilient and to ensure it is retained to make room for a swiftly transformability after disturbance.

Resilient landscape architecture came along also with the change of mindset: the awareness that human attempts to control natural disturbance are overall less effective or even futile2. In facing climate change. It is more reasonable to rather retain the role of nature in facing disturbances.

The above mentioned makes the image of resilient landscape architecture rather a clearer path than sustainable one, while it in return supplies the sustainable concept and provides a design process more sustainably. From the American Society of landscape architects, “long term resilience is about continuously bouncing back and regenerating”. Resilient landscape architecture is to ensure this goal and to “retroft our communities to recover more quickly from extreme events, now and in the future”. In facing an ever-changing “new normal”, it has the ability to bring several co-benefts when working with nature to create a multi-layered defense3

To make the conclusion of what I mentioned above, as in an era of continuously changing, attaching resilience thinking in landscape architecture practice has several benefts. Firstly, resilient landscape architecture provides the ability with better adaptation towards unexpected natural disturbances. Secondly, due to its multi-layered functioning concept, it allows the community to maintain different activities in the disturbance time. Thirdly, it subtly changes the community’s mindset towards nature. As the goal and approach is to retain nature’s role in urban context, it unconditionally exposes nature to human society in a co-living way at a higher frequency.

1. Farshad Bahrami, Ayda Alehasheim, Heshmatolla Motedayen, Urban Rivers and Resilience Thinking in the Face of Flood Disturbance,The Resilience Planning of the Kan River, 2019, MANZAR, 11 (47): 56-67

2. Farshad Bahrami, Ayda Alehasheim, Heshmatolla Motedayen, Urban Rivers and Resilience Thinking in the Face of Flood Disturbance,The Resilience Planning of the Kan River, 2019, MANZAR, 11 (47): 56-67

3. Professional Practice. Resilient design. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.asla.org/resilientdesign.aspx

For instance, in facing foods, mere robusting thinking will focus on building structures to control the natural procedure. Inevitably the immediate results are obvious as we felt safer after a higher dyke. Yet it has its shortage, the rising dykes and concrete canals gradually put pressure on the society standing behind it, as it leaves the increasing risk of erosion on river banks, limited role of river self adaptation facing high water levels and change of microclimates in the estuary, loss of biodiversity, etc. Examples like the Red River Flood in 1997 and Mississippi River Flood in 1993 show that the artifcial river canals behind the dyke might prevent food for the time being, but the structure which were built for food safety can also exacerbate the situation of the food (Bell, 2012)1 .

In addition, the change of nature oriented perspective is essential in thriving from the resilient landscape architecture approach. While being allowed to experience disturbance-food in a less dangerous and risky way, foods will not be seen as a mere danger and chaos from nature, rather it is a part of the vital process of nature which also includes the economic value of ecosystem services (Postel & Richter, 2012; Tockner, Bunn, Gordon, Naiman, Quinn & Stanford, 2008)2

1. Farshad Bahrami, Ayda Alehasheim, Heshmatolla Motedayen, Urban Rivers and Resilience Thinking in the Face of Flood Disturbance,The Resilience Planning of the Kan River, 2019, MANZAR, 11 (47): 56-67

2. Farshad Bahrami, Ayda Alehasheim, Heshmatolla Motedayen, Urban Rivers and Resilience Thinking in the Face of Flood Disturbance,The Resilience Planning of the Kan River, 2019, MANZAR, 11 (47): 56-67

Figure 13: The Big U Perspective, BIG TEAM, 2014, Rebuild by Design Competition

3.2.2 Robustness, Adaptability and Transformability

To enhance a system’s resilience is to improve 3 fundamental factors: Robustness, adaptability and transformability in facing disturbance. These 3 factors will also be inherited in a resilient landscape architecture as well.

Abilities to maintain a system robust towards disturbance is the robustness of a system. It is often provided by the gray infrastructure in an urban context. Such as canals, dykes etc. Due to it, robustness is often seen as a harder method that contributes to a system’s resilience. Where a system has higher robustness where it has less chance to expose to potential disturbance. Increasing robustness of a system can be seen as the frst step of protection while it blocks the interference mechanically and provides the system space running its functions at the same time. Although a robust approach seems to be effcient in facing disturbance, it requires a big amount of investments in infrastructure construction and even more in maintenance. Despite that, a mere robustness protection is always current-situation oriented and leaves the future uncertain.

Adaptability is like the other side of a coin, while robustness requires stabilization, it leans emphasis on changing. It often refers to the green/soft infrastructure in an urban context. Retaining fexibility is the goal of being adaptable in facing disturbance. As in ecology’s resilience theory, the defnition of resilience falls on how well a system can receive disturbance while maintaining its main function. Higher adaptability allows a system to be fexible to dissolve the severity of a disturbance. For example, the concept of stilt house construction practice explains how a community takes adaptability into consideration planning wise. Although adaptability is a gene carved skill running in human’s blood, it is also not one solution for all. To adapt to uncertainty and dynamics requires a long time pattern learning. While attaching adaptation to maintain the core function of a system is also to sacrifce minor functions, which is always hard in human society.

For resilient landscape architecture, the goal is to maintain the core function as much as a system can when facing disturbance. While facing extreme disturbances or catastrophic hazards, the goal of maintaining resilience is not only by increasing robustness or adaptability, but to dissolve the severity of the hazard and return to the formal situation pre-hazard period swiftly. Transformability is the focus to succeed. For urban context, it often refers to the recovering landscape architecture/disaster reacting infrastructure. Contrary to robustness and adaptability, transformability is rather a holistic reaction concept. Module composing infrastructures, portable constructions are the best examples of gaining a maximum transformability. While can be easily and rapidly composed, these types of infrastructures show the potential of swiftly rebuilding the “ruins”. Besides the constructions providing transformability, the mindset of a community also plays a role in increasing it. A holistic involved community reaction with autonomy is much faster and effcient than authorized transformation in facing hazard.

4. SPATIAL EXAMPLE STUDY: FLOOD REGIME IN HAMBURG

4.1 Hamburg, Wilhelmsburg and the development of the city skirts

4.2 Flood regimes in Hamburg

4.3 Spatial examples in Hamburg - comparing Hafencity and Wilhelmsburg

4. SPATIAL EXAMPLE STUDY: FLOOD REGIME IN HAMBURG

4.1 Hamburg, Wilhelmsburg and the development of the city skirts

The city Hamburg sits 100 kilometers west from the North Sea, connected with Elbe river running through. The greater Hamburg area takes up to 755,3 square kilometers1, comprising various landscapes, densely urban contexts, agriculture/ cultivation lands, natural reservations and the unique identifer harbor patterns. While growing with a radius module, Hamburg expands its urban touch from the inner circle. A population over 1,8 million makes it the second biggest city in Germany. Taking also the metropolitan areas the fgure will be added up to over 5 millions.

The river Elbe shapes the city Hamburg, leaving seas of canals in the city. Taking advantage of it, the free and hanseatic city of Hamburg started its river-based trades from the 14th century. Nowadays it grows the biggest Harbor among Germany and the third among Europe. Vessels from furthest to Asia or America drift with the river around the clock. While the harbor brings identities for the city, it also offers thousands of jobs and economic growth to Hamburg. Over the years the harbor plays a great role by the city, while nowadays, the growing urban fabric shapes the harbor in return. The increasing residencial need shifts the container port towards the southern bank of Elbe while leaving an advanced urban planning practice by the old port-the Hafencity. With the identical star architecture - Elbphilharmonie, the harbor offers space not only for containers but also culture and visitors.

The continuous growing city size will not be stopped for the moment, facing the increasing inhabitants and economic growth requirements. Tension came along as a side-effect. The increasing higher demand of accommodation puts Hamburg furthering in expanding its city skirts. “Leap across the river” was brought up to the city planning in order to fulfll its growing need. In the process, Hamburg explores again one of the biggest river islands in the Elbe-Wilhelmsburg, south from the old city on the southern bank of Elbe. It intends to create a new urban context offering minum a residence increase of 5,2002

The development of the island can be retroving back to 1600, Book Wasseratlas3, by studio urbane landschaften explains how this process was fnished. After setting up the frst dyke on the storm-prone island, the island remained in agriculture usage for more than 400 years. While it extended several small ring dikes around the farmers community, by 1814 appeared the “Hauptdeich” to surround it which made the whole island more livable and usable. By 1905, due to the higher demand of harbor trading, the train line was set up in the east of the island, and took up the surroundings into harbor space and employees residence. As the rest of the island remained agriculture-using and rural, Wilhelmsburg started to experience inhabitants boosting from the fourishing harbor industry, and became a densely residential area.

1. “Facts & Figures.” Hamburg Marketing. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://marketing.Hamburg.de/facts-and-fgures.html.

2. “Wilhelmsburg: Wissens- Und Sehenswertes.” Hamburg.de. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://www.Hamburg.de/sehenswertes-wilhelmsburg/.

3. Studio Urbane Landschaften. Wasseratlas: Wasserland-Topologien für Die Hamburger Elbinsel. Berlin: Jovis, 2008

Following almost 50 years of living in peace with nature, the Hauptdeich remains its robust job to protect its inhabitants until the night of 16th February 1962, the powerful food swept over the northern germany hit Hamburg with the cruelty of nature. In the report Felix Mauch writes “Storm front Vincinette had…pushed enormous amounts of water into the mouth of the Elbe, thrusting a food wave of 5.7 meters above sea level towards the city’s food protection systems. Around midnight, the Elbe broke through the dyke system at sixty locations… Almost Almost one-ffth of the municipal areas (12,500 ha) reported “submerged land.” Most affected were the southern parts of the city, which included the densely populated borough of Wilhelmsburg, whose residents were the bulk of the city’s food victims” 1 .

After the 1962 great food, dykes that built around Wilhelmsburg were higher up followed by numerous disaster reacting approaches in facing foods. Despite human’s attempts in fghting with foods, namely strengthening the hard protections, several foods has hit Hamburg from year to year, 1976, 1981 and most recently 20072. The continuous growing tension between the city of Hamburg and Elbe is getting on stage more obviously than ever.

As the city grows its own planning strategy to accommodate more habitants, one of the core economic sourcesthe port of Hamburg is dealing with its own development directly infuencing the water body of the Elbe.

The increasing popularity as a destination in Europe of Hamburg port drives bigger vessels into the canal. Yearly there are over 14 million containers drifting into the port3. As international cargo ships grow bigger, the natural river canal loses its ability to support its origin depth. In developing a more competitive port that adapts to the growing size of the cargo ships, Hamburg port has deepened the Elbe for many times and now reaches to the depth of a 12,5 meters. While the original depth by 1850 due to documentaries remained 3,5 meter 4. While deepening the riven bed, in order to maintain the loading of containers, the rather vertical wharves were set by the canal and maintains a more concrete, sharp linier river bank. The impact of this movement lay potential risks on the river itself and residents behind the dike in Wilhelmsburg. As the deepened depth welcomed a higher draft cargo, it also increased a huge amount of water when a storm-surge occurred from the northern sea. With the sharpened linier river bank increasing the speed of water volume, it loses the adaptability of a nature bank in facing a high water level. Within the ever changing dynamics builds up the tension between human communities and the water.

1. Mauch, Felix. “The Great Flood of 1962 in Hamburg.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (2012), no. 6. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc/3733

2. Mauch, Felix. “The Great Flood of 1962 in Hamburg.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (2012), no. 6. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc/3733

3. studio urbane landschaften. Wasseratlas: Wasserland-Topologien für Die Hamburger Elbinsel. pp53, Berlin: Jovis, 2008.

4. studio urbane landschaften. Wasseratlas: Wasserland-Topologien für Die Hamburger Elbinsel. Berlin: Jovis, pp53, 2008.

Figure 14: Photo of fooded city of Hamburg at Wilhelmsburg in 1962, 1962 Gerhard Pietsch

Figure 15: “Transformations of the Canal depth” re-edit by author, original credit from studio urbane landschaften.Wasseratlas,2008

4.2 Flood Regime in Hamburg

While “Leap across the river” makes Wilhelmsburg a complex urban context that is capable of residing more city inhabitants, the set of a former storm-prone island leaves the future of the island unclear. Especially within the climate change impact and the rising level of the northern sea, Hamburg faces an ever-changing dynamic between land and water.

The future relies on only projections from the scientists which makes it in the mist for most of normal people. Despite the german advanced early warning system alert functioning as the frst advertising to citizens when a hazard is about to happen, disasters inevitably shows nature forces are unpredictable, and no one will forecast their devastating power1 .Talking with residents in Hamburg, foods still remain far from or not dangerous for daily life. Given that, is it really necessary to build up infrastructures that are only reacting to a potential future?

To answer the question, it is important to go back to the bigger scale image around Hamburg and connect the food regime in Hamburg with the northern rising sea level situation. The river Elbe at the section of Hamburg is a tidal infuenced estuary, it means it changes the water level according to the tide level by the North Sea.

Firstly, Due to this special relation between Elbe and North Sea, the rising sea level in the northern sea brings a more turbulent tide range. Detecting and comparing from the documents back to 1870, the high tide rises from 1.50 meters above sea level to 2 meters, while the low tide decreases from -0.50 meter above sea level to -1.5 meter. The tide range has changed from 1.6 meter to 3,6 meter, while as the sea level continues rising, the tide range will only be even higher than now. The more turbulent tide range will make the water management in Hamburg more intractable, in other words a higher severity of foods and drought will be expected.

Secondly, due to the rising sea level of the northern sea, a more extreme weather situation is expected where quantitative observations (Sterr, Host 2018) from the tide gauge proves it. Following the great food of 1962, 6 storm surges which are higher than it have been recorded2. As in the journal from Sterr illustrates “...to the storm food frequency distribution, the recurrence of extreme (i.e., hazardous) water levels shows a signifcant reduction of return periods. For example, at Cuxhaven, the 1-in-100 year food event today is reduced to a 5-year food event”

1. Schmidt , Fabian. “Opinion: Germany’s Know-It-All Attitude after the Floods Helps No One: DW: 19.07.2021.” DW.COM. Accessed January 20, 2022. https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-germanys-know-it-all-attitude-after-the-foods-helps-no-one/a-58317029

2 Sterr, Horst. “Assessment of Vulnerability and Adaptation to Sea-Level Rise for the Coastal Zone of Germany.” Journal of Coastal Research 242 (2008): 380–93. https://doi.org/10.2112/07a-0011.1

Figure 16: After Storm Nadia 2022, picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Bockwoldt

The above situation has shown, when correlating Hamburg with the rising sea levels global condition, a fall over local scale effects of a food regime unfolds. To further answer the question, is it necessary to apply changes only based on the projected future? The study introduced in the report of Goltermann et al, 2008 carried on Wilhelmsburg is more than abundant. Nowadays, Wilhelmsburg is ringed by the dike height up to 7,5 meters, to a further construction will the specifed area of dike height reaches 8,35 meters above sea level (D Goltermann et al, 2008), yet in a projected scenario of climate change, a water level of 5,7m is assumed, with this scenario a breach of dikes will count up to 100 meters and about 45 million cubic meters of foodwater will inundate the whole island with a max depth up to 5,7 meters. It will affect an urban area of new homes for 30,000 to 40,000 citizens on this island1. While another projection from Grossmann et al, 2006 shows that “The hydraulic calculation indicates already for 2030 an overtopping of the dikes and probably about 4,3 million m3 of water will food the Hinterland of the island. In 2085 the food volume goes even up to 15,1 million m3. In this case nearly the whole urban area on the island will be fooded similar to the situation of 1962”2 . While the report was produced in 2008, the global condition isn’t getting more optimistic, projected scenarios by then, are often being referred to as milder or rather underestimated.

1. D Goltermann, G Ujey, E Pasche, . “Making coastal cities food resilient in the era of climate change.” Paper presented at 4th International Symposium on Flood Defence: Managing Flood Risk, Reliability and Vulnerability Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 6-8, 2008

2. Grossmann, I., Woth, K., von Storch, H. 2006. Localization of global climate change: Storm surge scenarios for Hamburg in 2030 and 2085, Die Küste, 71, 169-182

Figure 17: Recurrence intervals of storm surge water levels at Cuxhaven, North Sea coast (data from BSH-statistic and Goennert and Ferk, 1996). An assumed 1-m ASLR would reduce the storm surge interval by at least one order of magnitude. Host Sterr, 2008

Carrying on studies and ever-corrected projections allows humans a glance into the future, where Hamburg might have to live with the foods. While mostly relying on the dike construction, the food management is still oriented more for now rather than later, despite the long lasting improvising period: since 1962 the dike has been successfully risen 1,0 meter over a length of 109 kilometers which last over 20-odd years (Goltermann, et al 2008)1 and the less adaptabilities especially responding to the future: Michalis Vousdoukas who ran “Europe Joint Research Center analyzes the risk of extreme fooding across Europe” fnds the major disconnection between the climate change projection and current food protection infrastructures, according to him most existing barriers are engineered for today’s climate. “They will be obsolete in the decades ahead.”2

This special location and the densely populated urban context, lead Hamburg to a tense situation than ever in a dynamic changing era. As the world is getting warmer, the rising level of the sea brings more frequent severer extreme weather, and mounting the threats of foods Hamburg is facing. In this food regime, different strategies are distributed over this peninsula nestled city.

1. D Goltermann, G Ujey, E Pasche, . “Making coastal cities food resilient in the era of climate change.” Paper presented at 4th International Symposium on Flood Defence: Managing Flood Risk, Reliability and Vulnerability Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 6-8, 2008

2. Berwyn, Bob. “Hamburg’s Half-Billion-Dollar Bet.” Hakai Magazine. Accessed January 21, 2022. https://hakaimagazine.com/news/Hamburgs-half-billion-dollar-bet/.

Figure 18: 2 Coastal Flood Projections, From a mild 2meters rising scenario to an extreme 3meters one Credit: Owen Mulhern,2020 https://earth.org/data_visualization/sea-level-rise-by-2100-hamburg/

4.2 Flood Regime in Hamburg

With the accumulating threats of food, different strategies in spatial planning were applied over the city. Namely, relying on the robustness reaction and a more resilient one. To demonstrate current food management strategies in open space practice, in this thesis two professional projects are discussed: “Sprung über die Elbe” und “Hafencity”.

“Sprung über die Elbe” is a project initially set in 2006 and lasting till 2013, it was more discussed after the IBA in Hamburg. The major topic of it was to “develop the southern quarters of Hamburg and use them to allow the booming metropolis to grow internally”1

The core components of the idea is to create 3 public realms in the island: 1) cosmopolis- an increasing bond between international and local scale by establishing more educational and cultural facilities. 2) Metrozones: the transformation of borders and transitional zones to gain more livable quarters inside a metropoli. 3) Climate changing friendly: combine the growth with sustainability2. As the core idea is to remain climate change friendly, in the projects, several changes were made in order to reconnect human society with the water canal again. Walls between the old harbor and residential blocks were knocked down. While the intention remains idealistic, “parts of the IBA seems a bit scattered, random, with some of the innovation and experimentation veering very close to gimmickry” (Sheard, Peter 2013)3

In the reinforcement of nature into urban context, several approaches were made inside Wilhelmsburg. The most eye-catching one is the transformation of Spreehaven, which transformed an old dike and several harbor docks into a bigger urban green structure. While the project indeed focuses more on experimental architectures, strategies as a holistic thinking of facing climate change and foods falls behind. The intention of bricking walls between human and water succeeded only half way, while the approach focused again back to raising a higher dike around the island, from the report of Bob Berwyn back to 2017, “Hamburg will spend 592 million dollars tover the next 30 years to reinforce and heighten a 103 kilometer network of dikes and seawalls”. A supposed to be innovative project falls back on the limited eyesight, is rather less satisfed and risky, as the breeching projection demonstrated before in this thesis. Relying only on the higher dikes surely won’t be our only choice and, the project one leap across the river shows how a different strategy was applied.

1. “2006 – 2013 IBA Hamburg // Leap across the Elbe.” IBA, November 5, 2019. https://www.internationale-bauausstellungen.de/en/history/2006-2013-iba-Hamburg-leap-across-the-elbe/.

2. “2006 – 2013 IBA Hamburg // Leap across the Elbe.” IBA, November 5, 2019. https://www.internationale-bauausstellungen.de/en/history/2006-2013-iba-Hamburg-leap-across-the-elbe/.

3. “2006 – 2013 IBA Hamburg // Leap across the Elbe.” IBA, November 5, 2019. https://www.internationale-bauausstellungen.de/en/history/2006-2013-iba-Hamburg-leap-across-the-elbe/.

The Hafencity project is truly innovative and holistic as its special location outside the main dike protected area. Offcially established in 2018, Hafencity is designed outside the Hamburg dike area in the old derelict harbor area. It is an area that shows how a city can plan new developments based on the future foods, and fully embraces the unique connecting way of elevating roads and bridges to 7,8 to 8,5 meters above the high tide line. (Peter Yeung , 2021) Idea behind the Hafencity according to the citylab + green’s report is “ Hafencity’s designers turned to a time-tested alternative: the terp. Based on an ancient Dutch Technique for building atop artifcial mounds…With roads and public spaces safely elevated, frequent foods are more easily tolerated by residents and visitors; even between October and May when the Elbe is liable to overfow its banks… Promenades only briefy food and raised bridges ensure emergency services always have access.” 1Urban designer Stefan Al refers to the Hafencity projects as the fexible protection system that faces the uncertainties of climate change and population growth. As in the project, the Hafencity’s terp system preserves the public’s access to the water, integrating food defense with urban planning2. The catwalk lines and the “food friendly” buildings show how an alternative in facing future foods can be integrated inside urban planning practices with a resilient background.

(fgures of catwalks and buildings with the extractions)

Although neither dikes nor the terps can defend an urban context with 100% certainty, resilient thoughts might be a new way to guide humans back to the long time-tested era with foods and the other hazards coming along with climate change.

1. Yeung, Peter. “In Hamburg, Surviving Climate Change Means Living With Water.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, December 18, 2021. https:// www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-12-18/how-Hamburg-learned-to-live-with-rising-water.

2. Yeung, Peter. “In Hamburg, Surviving Climate Change Means Living With Water.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, December 18, 2021. https:// www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-12-18/how-Hamburg-learned-to-live-with-rising-water.v

Figure 19: Flood Proofed Building& Catwalk in Hafen City. D Goltermann1 , G Ujeyl1, and E Pasche1 2008, MAKING COASTAL CITIES FLOOD RESILIENT IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE 2008

5. DESIGN 5.1 Framework & concept 5.2 Spatial Practice 5.2.1 Macroscale planning 5.2.2 “The Ring” 5.2.3 “The Line”

5. DESIGN PHASE

5.1 Framework & concept

Following the intention of IBA’s project on Wilhelmsburg, is there a possibility that can improve the current strategy on the island, bringing a new method in planning waterfront space in Wilhelmsburg to face the future risk of food hazards? Along with learning from the existing and already time-tested approaches on the other side of the bank, Hafencity, in this chapter, I try to explore a new scenario for Wilhelmsburg while including the theorie background of resilient landscape architecture.

Firstly the framework is being extracted after the analysis from current applied food-management strategies on Wilhelmsburg. Through the framework, it intends to discuss the logic-chain behind the new concept. Given the current food-management strategies in Hamburg, they can be separated into two main ones, namely 1) relying on the rising of the main dyke around Wilhelmsburg and 2) the resilient planning in Hafencity.

Figure 20: Flood-management strategies distribution in Hamburg, edited by author, map source: Google Map, datasource:Hamburg.de

Figure 21: Landuse Analysis in Wilhelmsburg, edited by author, map source: Google Map, datasource:Hamburg.de

Figure 22: Flood risk and vulnerabilities based on population density, made by author, datasource: SRTM 30 M satellite map, Hamburg.de

After the vulnerability analysis, in the thesis I chose to focus on the site Wilhelmsburg as it is still focusing on the older dyke approach. Considering the risks Hamburg will face in the future climate change hazard, this specifed approach has its own shortage. As a mere robustness relying strategy, it is limited to a certain amount of adequacy. Lacking adaptability for instance will lead to facing increasing vulnerability when the future disaster level changes: dike overtopping/ breeching. As it seemed to be a holistic idea that building the dike ring around the island, it is a fragmented approach indeed. As it is not taking the various vulnerability levels on the island into consideration and putting the same risk above all types of spaces. As when the overtopping happens, everywhere behind the dykes has literally no different solution in reacting. While the mechanical way of simply applying dike, it also eliminated the value of ecology in the urban context.

By referring to resilient landscape architecture, it might supply the current strategy in facing the uncertainty on the island. As integrating resilient planning, it flls up the shortboard of a merely robust approach. The increasingly natural role retaining in the core concept of resilient landscape architecture ensures the adaptability part in facing the increasing hazard condition. For instance by applying resilient design, the higher adaptation planning will supply the function remaining when a robustness reaction reaches its limit. A more holistic approach, namely introducing nature into the urban context: allowing foods entering to less vulnerable places or maintaining urban functions by adapting to the hazard conditions, etc. will offer human society the experience of a different connection with nature, and eventually a mindset changing to a more agreeable co-living with nature.

Under the framework, the new concept has been introduced: bring a more resilient planning approach to the island Wilhelmsburg. Before a more spatial constructing related concept, a resilient risk management concept is playing the guiding role. The cascading food compartments system (CFC system) introduced from the report of D.Goltermann et al 20081. It is introduced to work as the ring parallel to the main dikes in order to make buffer places for the hinterland and distribute risks corresponding to the vulnerabilities of spaces in the hinterland. As it creates a buffer fooding spaces, it decreases the risk of the most vulnerable place.

CFC-SYSTEM

1. D Goltermann, G Ujey, E Pasche, . “Making coastal cities food resilient in the era of climate change.” Paper presented at 4th International Symposium on Flood Defence: Managing Flood Risk, Reliability and Vulnerability Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 6-8, 2008

Figure 23: principle and risk analysis of CFC system, D.Goltermann et al 2008

THE RING

As a landscape architecture process, this thesis is going to discuss a different scenario of streets in bringing resilience to the community. The concept being applied will mainly focus on the transformation of this accessible element. It may also refer to the buffer open space alongside the road or the waterfront space if it is connected directly to the street (for example: green space between canal and residential blocks) while it will not be the main focus of design.

Following the idea of the CFC system, the concept of making parallel rings was frst introduced to landscape architecture practices. Residential blocks- neighborhoods are the most vulnerable space units, as they bear the living function of inhabitants. As from the risk awareness and management, this unit should be the last place to face food. “Neighborhood ring” was planned to fulfll the robustness increasing role, according to the CFC system, the elevated ring will play a role as the “food cascading protection line”, by creating new food buffer zone outside the “neighborhood ring”, it provides a less occurrence of being fooded inside the neighborhood. As the ring provides the protection of preventing the food, hinterland space inside the ring is still food friendly, thanks to the water-proof constructions for the building. Where the severity of the food increases, hinterland food can be expected, while the neighborhood ring will offer the function as a drainage to ensure a swift recovery of hinterland. It will be more discussed in the designing of the ring module.

Figure 24: Concept of The Ring, made by author

Elevated Dyke-alike System

THE LINE

As the resilient planning of “the ring” offers the robustness with the high-water level, to allow the accessibilities of the community is another catwalk-like construction essential to the concept “the line.” To distinguish the new resilient concept with the old dike plan, the line can offer a more adaptive scenario in facing food hazards. As the hinterland from dikes are meant to be food-friendly, when the extreme high inundation occurs, the line ensures the accessibility of the hinterland, while functioning as an elevated layer above the water. it can remain in use despite the water levels. While the other main elements from resilient design is multifunctioning, the line will offer the role of not only emergency accessing using when overtopping occurs, but also offer several potential of an urban fabric extension, it will be the subject that carries on a module composing solution for enhancing the identity of a city and allows individualities in urban planning. The multi-composing way will be discussed in the design chapter.

Overall, the concept of introducing the ring and the line, is to bring a more resilient plan into Wilhelmsburg in order to offer a different imagination in the future. As a very scenario of a dystopian rescue for a total renaturalizatoning fooding island or a utopia extension for the exploring of the possibility to make a multi-layering identical metropolis.

Figure 25: Concept of The Line, made by author

Elevated Catwalk System

BUILDING PROCESS CONCEPT

Phases to Pursue the Concept

Figure 26: Concept Drawing, made by author

5.2 Spatial Practice

5.2.1 Macroscale planning

The urban scale planning focuses on using spatial methods to distribute risks and increase the resilience of the holistic image. Firstly, based on the existing function of different blocks, streets that surround the living blocks are being elevated to work as the secondary dyke. By elevating the road, it also created a variety of liniary open space along it. Shouldering the accessibility and robustness protection, it also offers a new imagination for the urban context.

Secondly is about the main dike re-planning, by breaking walls between the old harbor and residences, sections of the main dykes are about to shoulder more than the robust separation, but also extension from urban fabric and nature patterns. With the replaning, it offers the experience more than a mere faster accessing road, correlated to the atmosphere; besides, it provides the space for different factors here playing: nature, culture and urban meeting points. It integrates the urban context with the opportunity for a different experience. Imagine the bigger dike ring as an urban identical spot, it could be a section to grab a coffee and walk with the view of elbe canal, marshall islands with the soft breezes; could be a plaza where young musicians, artists perform, while couples sit on the steps with the gentle dazzal; could be a faster sport path where biking, jogging, simply ftness are no longer only offered from the glasshouse; it could be the open view point where it allows us to fully experience the performance of nature, the water, the marshland, the habitats; it could also be the emergency access which connects the whole island, when the unstoppable hazard happens. The re-planning of the dike is a new imagination of the urban context while embracing the multiple functioning into consideration.

Last but not least, the lines, which will be the elevated catwalk-like high-line connecting parallel dike rings which work as the new layer for urban context. As in the future, when the uncertainties are higher, the connection lines offer the glance of an adaptive scenario. Urban scale wise, the line offers simply a new layer above the ground, it works with the same concept as catwalks from Hafencity when a high water situation occurs and man has to live with water. Besides the role of merely the elevated access road, taking the mobile architecture theory from Yona Friedmann into consideration, this highline works also for making more space for the indivulaties integrating into a giant urban context with the increasing confict of the space. While going up to the vertical level, the construction also leaves the layer beneath a different possibility. Compared to the older street system, which was occupied only by the human, nature and the other non-human inhabitants of the urban context had to retreat, the new system leaves a room for nature to grow, it shows the potential of controlled re-naturalizations.

Overall, in an urban scale, the distribution of the 2 elements composes the master plan, namely “the ring” which refers to the parallel new dike system and “the line” which refers to the high line system connecting the dikes and neighborhood. The design intends to discuss a different street system with resilience when tha city faces the future uncertainties. It is a design which focuses on what can happen in a dystopian/utopian way. The approach of the design is not to discuss a highly feasible constructing guide, but to propose a new imagination, in that humans fnd a new mindset towards foods, towards uncertainties of nature. It created the place where humans are able to truly experience nature in different shapes, in different attitudes, the wild one, the gentle one, the ferce one, the comforting one.

In order to make the broad image more comprehensible, this thesis is also going to discuss the potential of those 2 fundamental elements in a small scale way. Referring to the module composing approach of installing designs, the neighborhood scale is going to show how the big street can be separated to single models. And by illustrating the different archetypes and typologies, how these models can offer various possibilities and capabilities to the whole urban scale planning

Figure 27: MasterPlan, made by author,Map source:Google Map

Figure 28: Flood Risk and Compartments Analysis, made by author,Map source:Google Map