Resilient Cities

P32075: Urban Design Theory 2

RESILIENT CITIES

Freddy Hedberg - 12027233 1

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CONTENTS Introduction

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Chapter I : Tense Political Climate

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Washington D.C.

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New York

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Chapter II : Natural Disaster

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New Orleans

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Rotterdam

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Conclusion

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“Urban Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience�

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100 Resilient Cities (2017)

INTRODUCTION The idea of cities being resilient has become increasingly incorporated in urban planning. Cities across the world are seeking to better themselves so as to withstand and respond to different disastrous events. Many seek to withstand outside forces such as nature and potential terrorist attacks, whilst others seek resilience within their city to improve on their current infrastructure or growing population. Nevertheless, cities try to better themselves in order to be able to handle future crises. On an urban design level, it is vital to understand what can be designed in the built environment to contribute to a city’s resilience.

To define the concept of a resilient city, it is generally associated with “the ability to absorb, adapt and respond to changes in an urban system� (Desouza and Flanery, 2013). This report will seek to understand how urban design can create cities that are resilient against different crises. This will be achieved by first investigating how cities are resilient to tense political climates, specifically terrorism and war. Both Washington D.C. and New York are cities that need to use urban design to mitigate any terrorist threats. In a final chapter, resilience against natural hazards will be the primary focus. This section will be looking at how cities can combat against an influx of rainwater from hurricanes and storm surges. New Orleans and Rotterdam are both prime examples of cities living with water whilst using urban design methods to manage excessive water.

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CHAPTER I TENSE POLITICAL CLIMATE

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ter•ror•ism

|ˈtɛrərɪzəm| [noun]

The use of unlawful violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, espcially in the pursuit of political aims.

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INTRODUCTION There are many noteworthy and influential cities that govern our world. Some of these are hubs of power where the most important decisions are made, however, these kinds of cities result in being a target to groups that want to eliminate this influence. In certain tense political climates, the risk of terrorism is apparent and therefore these cities need to be resilient in the likelihood of a terrorist attack. The threat of such an attack intensifies current Western military strength and security measures are put in place in urban spaces. Terrorism can affect the direction of urban planning decisions.

After 9/11, there was discussion to accelerate urban sprawl and reduce the amount of landmark high rise buildings constructed in cities in order to avoid the

events in New York (Graham, 2007). Architects and urban designers have had to adapt their mind-set to creating structures and places that take into account counter-terrorism and the security of people. This leads to a new layer of urban planning entitled defensive urban design which aims to mitigate terrorist attacks in the built environment. But there is a limit to what urban design can do to prevent terrorism, nevertheless, it definitely needs to create places that are safe for everyone and automatically incorporate security protocols in public realms.

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WASHINGTON D.C. This city is America’s capital in which the nation’s political power lies. It has many iconic structures that are recognisable around the world such as the White House, the US Capitol, the Washington Monument and others. Security is one of the essential targets for this city due it being home to three important branches of the American Government system.

The Legislative Branch which is represented by congress, the Executive Branch in which the President’s Cabinet presides and finally, the Judicial Branch which represents the court system with the Supreme Court being the highest federal court in the country. Security measures are put in place in order to mitigate any potential threats to the government.

Contextual zones in Washington (NCPC, 2001)

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WASHINGTON D.C. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) seeks to blend and improve the aesthetics of security measures within the built environment. The Interagency Security Task Force was set up in 2000 for this purpose to systematically integrate security measures to Washington’s surroundings; but there still remains conflict between making places secure and making them open (Premo and Rita, 2003. The Task Force divided the city’s downtown area into six contextual zones due to the architectural style used as well as their positions. These are namely President’s Park, Downtown, West End, Federal Triangle, Capitol Hill, The Mall, and SW Federal Centre (NCPC, 2001).

These zones are then further divided into building yards, sidewalks and curb lanes which have their own security requirements (NCPC, 2002). This creates an intriguing challenge for designers and architects to create security requirements in the public domain that will also blend into the environment.

Some security measures used in defensive urban design are used on Washington’s monuments (NCPC, 2002).

Pennsylvania avenue has been designed to incorporate bollards and guardhouses (NCPC, 2002).

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The Washington Memorial has been fitted with plinth walls and its ground uses water to create a natural barrier (FEMA, 2007).

Different types of hardened street furniture are used to create a safe environment (NCPC, 2002).

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NEW YORK A city of dreams and inspiration, New York is a megacity that is iconic across the world. Home to the arts and capital of shopping, this city is known for its memorable life and dynamic urban environment. With many cultural landmarks such the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park; the city attracts all sorts of people from all around the world resulting in a city wide melting pot. Unfortunately, due to the city’s captivating aura it results in becoming a target for terrorists.

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Ill-fated, New York became a victim of terror on 11 September 2001 when two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre towers causing mass panic, death and destruction. Morshed (2016) states that the logic behind this attack was the perception of the two towers as architectural symbols representing America’s international power. This was one of America’s darkest days.

In NewYork! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, There’s nothing you can’t do, Now you’re in New York! These streets will make you feel brand new, Big lights will inspire you, Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York.

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Alicia Keys

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NEW YORK Following on from the events of 9/11, New York’s financial district is thought to be the next potential target for another terrorist attack. The city has started to implement security measures and has come up with a strategy. The traffic circulation of the district and its security will be remodeled, modification in terms of traffic directions, using streetscape elements to incorporate security features, and finally to make the most of the urban environment. Three levels of defence have been incorporated to secure the financial district.

These fences control the movement of people in the Financial District (Nemeth and Hollander, 2010).

The attack on the twin towers.

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Wall street with its safety barriers (Nguyen, 2011).

The defence levels will implement specially designed bollards that act as NOGOs which will create street closure in the Financial District (FEMA, 2007). With the use of operable barriers, the district now has controlled access. The use of metal fences helps control the flow of traffic and will increase the pedestrians experience in the district. Finally, property owners of the buildings within the Financial District will contribute to the area’s security by adding their defence measures.

The NOGO create street closure to cars and are designed to be used by people (Johnson, 2016).

The functioning of the turntables (FEMA, 2007).

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CHAPTER II NATURAL DISASTERS

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nat•u•ral dis•as•ter

|ˈnatʃ(ə)r(ə)l dɪˈzɑːstə | [adj | noun] A major event or a force originated from nature which creates destructive ramifications and/or the loss of life.

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INTRODUCTION Natural disasters are major events that occur around the globe and can result in the loss of life.

There exists a huge variety of disasters that can in some cases trigger other ones. For example, a hurricane may cause floods on land and underwater earthquakes can provoke tsunamis. These events are one of the major forces that threaten cities, and thus urge cities to become more resilient against them.

Due to the huge variety of natural disasters, cities must research which ones might cause potential damage. As a consequence of global warming worsening, our environment is changing with occurrences of new natural disasters in locations that have never experienced such disasters. This chapter will investigate how the cities of New

Orleans and Rotterdam managed, through different water management strategies, to stay resilient against the influx of rainwater. These two cities have been collaborating since 2008 in order to share and learn from each other (Gemeente Rotterdam, 2016). Through the use of urban design methods, both cities have managed to make themselves more resilient in order to mitigate the damage from natural disasters. New Orleans is not new to dealing with natural disasters such as hurricanes and storm surges and therefore is striving to be a resilient city. Rotterdam is a city that constantly lives with water and has a duty to think of new urban design ways to be resilient against regular flooding.

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NEW ORLEANS New Orleans is located in the state of Louisiana and is situated on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. The city has been affected from severe natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Sandy (2012) as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. One of the major natural events that the city has to withstand is the influx of water, usually caused from powerful storms or a hurricane. Following the aftermaths of cyclones Katrina and Sandy, New Orleans needed to become resilient in order to protect its citizens.

In 2015, the City of New Orleans produced a comprehensive report detailing the strategic actions authorities will take to make the city resilient. Its three main goals are to “adapt to thrive”, “connect to opportunity”, and to “transform city systems” (City of New Orleans, 2015). New Orleans’ Critical Infrastructure is one of the main bodies dealing with the surplus of water in the city. Urban design projects have helped to alleviate the amount of water in the system which prevents it from being compromised.

This graphic represents New Orleans’ Critical Infrastructure (City of New Orleans, 2015)

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NEW ORLEANS When a huge rain event occurs in New Orleans, it tries to pump rainwater out as quickly as possible.

However, the pumps and pipes are not able to handle this influx in water which causes back flooding that can damage property and make the streets dangerous and unusable. New Orleans is home to shrink-swell soil which condenses and expands depending on the amount of moisture in the earth (Urban Water Managment, 2017). The current approach to alleviate rainwater results in the sinking of soil and land subsidence which damages streets and buildings.

Shrink-swell soil in its dry and wet form (Urban Water Managment, 2017).

The devesation of Huricane Katrina (Lemonade, 2016).

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The city is adding new innovative ways to live with water to its already “gray� infrastructure in order to transform it into a green infrastructure (Bliss, 2016). Green infrastructure is a smarter way of managing water which aims to slow and store rainwater. Areas are designed to incorporate native plants that will temporarily capture rainwater to avoid it flooding the drainage system (Urban Water Managment, 2017). Some of the water is absorbed by the vegetation which filters out any pollutants, the rest infiltrates the ground helping to stabilize the water table and avoid subsidence.

Three of the design schemes put in place to manage influx in rainwater (Danabrownassociates.com, 2017).

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Green infrastructure is adaptable to space. It has various forms such as corner basins, wet ponds, porous pavements, urban bioswales and others (Danabrownassociates.com, 2017). Residents can also participate in this infrastructure by installing rain 26

gardens and rain barrels on their land. This smarter design reduces costs to repair New Orleans’ Critical Infrastructure as well as mitigate flooding in different parts of the city (Urban Water Managment, 2017).

Green infrastructure can be designed to fit any variety of areas (Urban Water Managment, 2017).

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ROTTERDAM

This Dutch city is a coastal city, it hosts one of the largest ports in Europe. Rotterdam deals with water on a daily basis to the point that it tries to incorporate water into its urban design. The city’s aim is to incorporate resilience thinking into daily life which is achieved through seven key goals. This chapter will explore goal 4: “climate adaptive Rotterdam to a new level” (Gemeente Rotterdam, 2016). This goal explores different smart water management techniques which can also deliver financial gain. It will also strengthen Rotterdam’s crisis management procedures through increasing understanding of flood risks. Finally, it will provide cyber resilience to better its climate adaptation strategies.

Maeslantkering is one of Rotterdam’s surge barriers and first defence against flooding.

Rotterdam’s has a robust water management system and flood protection mechanisms (De Urbanisten, 2014).

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ROTTERDAM One of the interesting projects that is slowly making Rotterdam more resilient is the slow increase of climate-proof districts. The Zomerhofkwartier (Zoho) district is undergoing gradual urban regeneration (Gemeente Rotterdam, 2016). It already has the multifunctional Waterplein Benthemplein (water square) which enabled Zoho to undergo climate adaptation. With the use of urban design, the district has multiple approaches to deal with an influx of rainwater. Its success means that it can be the blueprint for regenerating other districts in Rotterdam, hence furthering the city’s resilience.

Masterplan of the climate-proofing district project (De Urbanisten, 2014).

Waterplein Benthemplein (De Urbanisten, 2014).

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The result of the climate-proof district for Zoho is an area that is resilient to flooding and a self-sufficient community. The Benthemplein Watersquare is a temporary water storage unit that acts as a landmark that enhances the district’s identity. The Polderroof scheme transforms the roof a multistorey car park in the district into a green roof which also stores and reuses rainwater. It also provides a space for socialising and urban agriculture. Another project used for climate-proofing is “Rain(a)way Garden” which adds a new street profile to green areas in the Zoho district. Zoho-rainbarrels are introduced across the district as a water storage strategy which help bring awareness about water consumption and reuse. Finally, Zoho-raingardens are created on two parking lots and next to a sidewalk. This technique adds greenery to the district and also collects water from nearby spaces.

Conceptual framework of the Polderroof scheme which is linked to ZOHO-raingarden (De Urbanisten, 2014).

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CONCLUSION An increasing number of cities are becoming resilient against a number of different threats. In this report, the two forces, tense political climate and natural disasters, have been investigated in terms of their impacts on cities. The most interesting and notable outcome was how these cities have become resilient through urban design. In terms of terrorism, both Washington and New York have used streetscape elements to incorporate security measures that blend with the built environment. Technology has been integrated to keep the required safety level in potential target areas, such as the use of turntables to shift NOGOs to enable controlled access. To a certain degree, urban design is able to mitigate potential attacks on powerful cities yet still keep pleasant aesthetics in the public realm. In cases where cities have to withstand natural disasters, New Orleans and Rotterdam are two partnered cities that are becoming resilient against flooding by using a smart and innovative water management strategy.

They both incorporate urban design principles that seek to contain and slow water runoff so as to not overcharge current infrastructure and worsen the disaster through back flooding. The incorporation of vegetation in both cities helps capture some of the rainwater and provides more greenery in the urban environment. It is noted that cities enduring the same threatening forces use similar urban design methods. This is due to cities helping one another and sharing their knowledge through organisations such as 100 Resilient Cities.

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