Introduction

Sea level rise is increasingly posing threats to coastal cities across the world. Coastal flooding can drown water-adjacent urban areas, causing human and economic hazards across both short and long temporalities (C40, 2021). While this challenges conventional practices of urban planning, in doing so, it also opens up for new ways of doing things.

One of such coastal cities is Trondheim. Located in the Trondheimsfjord, opening to the Norwegian sea, the city is prone to climate-change induced sea-level rise and flooding. During the 21st century, Trondheim is facing a sea level rise at approximately 40 centimeters (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap, 2009). Simultaneously, Trondheim is expecting a population growth of 15 % towards 2030 (Statistisk sentralbyrå, 2021), creating a demand for densification of the city. The city is planning to achieve a ‘zero-growth goal’ which implies that the urban growth is planned within the city center, rather than in the periphery.

This is the context in which the area of Nyhavna is being developed. Nyhavna is an artificially built industrial harbor. While the industries are being shut down and moved out of the center, a new mixed-use area is proposed. Its location adjacent to the sea makes it particularly attractive to urban development. However, this location also makes it vulnerable to flooding.

It is in this nexus that this report will take its starting point, asking: how can a localized, people-centered contingency plan work in combination with nature-based design solutions to improve resilience and sustainability of Nyhavna, as an example of an urban area prone to flooding caused by sea level rise?

The report is built up around a hypothetical case where there are substantial resources, no disaster management authority and low density. First, it introduces the context of Nyhavna, the history, the risks and the opportunities. Then it moves on to study cases of best practices from contexts similar to Nyhavna, specifically, waterfront design and planning in Hamburg and Copenhagen. Then a contingency plan is presented, where the potential synergies between flood-sensitive planning and urban design are discussed in the form of hard infrastructure. In addition, the benefits of using a community-based approach will be presented. Finally, measures for a more resilient and sustainable urban future, considering climate-change induced sea-level rise and flood risks, are discussed.

Approach

The contingency plan is based on the principles of a localised and flexible approach. The argument behind this is, first of all, that Nyhavna is a site with a very particular context. As it is constructed land, which was originally designed for industrial use, the form and location of the site requires a certain specificity in the planning. Furthermore, the unpredictability of climate-change induced sea-level rise calls for flexibility in the design of the urban spaces. This will be further discussed in the report. Enjoy!