New Islanders.
A fictitious history of Boston’s (un)managed retreat.
Managed retreat is a frightening prospect for many. Because radical shifts in climate policy are unlikely, though, retreat of some kind may become necessary. This is the story of how Boston began an unmanaged retreat into the unlikely safety of its islands, and the planning responses it engendered.
2025
Category 3 hurricane comes to Boston, hitting the Dorchester Bay particularly hard.
First known use of Spectacle Island for a post-storm, informal settlement for the displaced.
2040 Rising sea levels + increasingly powerful, frequent hurricanes transform Dorchester Bay coastline from a knowable boundary to an interstitial zone of property damage and disinvestment. Semi-permanent camps form on the islands.
Sea Level Rise + Hurrican Force Surges by 2100.
Water w/ Sea-Level Rise Category 1 Hurricane Surge Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5
2 Kilometers
Unflooded land
Residents flee flooded homes to the uninhabited and by now largely ignored Harbor Islands, particularly Spectacle and Long.
2045 Responding to pressure from the media and Department of Justice, Boston’s mayor issues two executive orders, separately creating the Boston Harbor Island Temporary Community and Settlement Task Force (“Task Force”) and the Boston Floodplain Reinvestment Commission. The two bodies make similar recommendations. Following those proceedings, the City Council creates the Boston Harbor Islander Authority, an quasi-public agency.
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR HOWARD F. RAINES EXECUTIVE ORDER OF MAYOR HOWARD F. RAINES An Order Relative to New Island Pop
ulations and Constituencies
WHEREAS, storms and storm surges have severely affected the City of Bos ton since the early 2010s, such storms have been particu larly impactful given rising baseline sea levels.
Affected People and Infrastructures Airport
Wastewater Treatment
Snowfarm Power Plant Seaport
~275,000 people’s homes flooded*
Pipelines Addiction Recovery Police + Fire Training
Rounded number of people living in block groups whose centroid is within flooded area
Current
Target
Accommodating
~5k ppl/sq.km.
~45k ppl/sq.km.
~80k ppl/sq.km.
Brookline. The current density of affected areas if residences evenly distributed.
South End. The target density to rehouse affected people on available land if evenly distributed.
Beacon Hill. The target density to rehouse affected people on available land, accommodating for non-residential activity.
2048 In concert with the BRA, the Islander Authority authors and implements “Island Living 2100,” a master plan that “formalizes” Islander communities through mass evictions of informal settlements, land assembly/disposition, and development. A “Settlement House” is created on Long Island, a nod to the evicted communities and charity history on the island. Island Living 2100 closes the most flood-prone parts of the former Boston mainland and directs investment toward high density housing on the Islands.
Official Rendering for Spectacle Island in 2100.
Island Detail Spectacle Island
Long Island
Rainsford Island Target Islands for high-density residential settlement and the city’s flagships of island urbanism.
Land Use Very High Density Residential High Density Residential Mixed-Use Residential/Commercial Institutional Industrial-Commercial Utility Parkland
Circulation
Non-flood amenity Microgrid Operations Water Square Natural Harbor Intertidal Recreation
Street Harbor
Soft Infrastructure Natural Seawall Artificial Reef Intertidal Causeway Oyster Restoration
John McCartin 3 March 2015