Introduction

The effects of climate change are unavoidable everywhere, and Norway is no exception. Norway’s number of fjords, inlets, and islands, as well as its 100,000 km of coastline and population of approximately 5,3 million people, make the country vulnerable to sea level rise and its associated effects, such as flooding. (Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), 2017)

Sea level rise as a significant and unavoidable result of climate change appears to be one of the planet’s major challenges and threats (Mimura, 2013). Low-lying coasts, coastal areas, and deltas are most likely to be severely affected. (El-Raey et al., 1999) According to the “Climate Change and Land Special Report” (Shukla et.al., 2019), it is almost certain that the earth will experience a nearly 1-meter sea level rise in the next 80 years. In Norway, the main causes of sea level rise, particularly in coastal cities, are thought to be rising global temperatures and an increase in the amount of water entering the oceans due to ice melting. (DSB, 2017)

In this report, we have focused on three standpoints: ecological, societal and institutional. Also, we have chosen a flexible and incremental approach for the contingency plan.

From an ecological standpoint, coastal areas are threatened and are more likely to experience severe effects of sea level rise, including erosion acceleration, and the loss of coastal ecosystems, which is one of the major concerns and poses a significant risk to human beings’ future. (Magnan et al., 2022)

From a societal standpoint, the society and inhabitants must be prepared for floods by doing resilience and community work. This can prevent the risk of floods, also, building stronger communities.

From an institutional standpoint, sea level rise could impose significant costs on the government, and if it is not controlled or prevented, the costs will rise. As a result, investing in flood prevention may be less expensive than dealing with the extreme magnitude of its destructive effects. For preventing floods, the institutions, organizations and government must cooperate and work together (Bosello et al., 2012).

The Hypothetical Scenario

Our given hypothetical scenario is: Trondheim is a ...

Very low density city

We have fewer people and more space toimplement our ideas in the event of a disaster.

Substantial resources

We have enough human, financial, and knowledge resources to respond to hazards without being constrained by resource constraints. In addition, it makes recovery easier.

Disaster management authority

As the Trondheim municipality has the disaster management team, we have a strong institutional/governmental power and support to implement the appropriate contingency planning.

Methodology

The research question in this report is “From an ecological, societal and institutional standpoint, how can Nyhavna become more resilient in case of flooding due to the sea level rise?”. This research is based on secondary data and is a qualitative analysis.

Literature review of relevant articles, plans and documents for examples by Trondheim municipality and previous groups. We have also done observations by walking within the site, taking photos, stakeholder analysis, and SWOT analysis.

Theory

In this section, we review two relevant literature topics on “Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)” and “Community Resiliency,” in relation to the case study and the main question of the report.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Disaster: Generally, disasters are considered extreme events requiring external assistance due to their scale or impact. It is common to refer to these recurrent events as ‘extensive risks’. There is often a high level of risk faced by poor people living in the affected zone. (Twigg, 2015).

Risk: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (2021) mentions three components of risk: hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities. And it mentions that ecosystems can influence these three components. Ecosystems are capable of regulating and mitigating hazards, controlling exposure, and reducing vulnerability, as evidenced by research. (UNDRR, 2021)

Prone to floods

Sea level rise can result in river overflow and flood dangers because of rising sea levels.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): UNDRR (2021) describes DRR as a way of reducing disaster risks by analyzing and managing the causal factors of disasters. This includes reducing exposure to hazards, reducing vulnerability to disasters, managing land and the environment wisely, and being better prepared to deal with adverse events. Also, Begum (2014) believes that as part of a broad context of sustainable development, DRR describes the development and application of policies, strategies and practices that minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society. This is done by avoiding (preventing) or limiting (mitigating and adapting to) the adverse impacts of hazards.

Community resiliency

Resilience: Imperiale et.al. (2021) says resilience has a long history and a variety of definitions. Even though technoscientific and mechanistic approaches to resilience in physical systems emphasize that resilience refers to the ability of a system to maintain and return to its original state, socio-ecological system theory holds that nature, especially social systems, learns and transforms in response to disturbances. (Imperiale et.al., 2021)

Imperiale et.al. (2021) also mentions that social actors can use disturbances as windows of opportunity to learn and transform for future actions. This will improve their capacity to manage the socioeconomic system and be more resilient in the future. He expresses concerns, however, about how resilience is unclear at all levels of social-ecological governance in society. (Imperiale et.al., 2021)

Community Resiliency: According to Imperiale et.al. (2021), community resilience is the social process that occurs within places and that local people engage in together to enhance community wellbeing and address the negative risks and impacts they perceive and experience as common problems through collective learning and transformation.

Site Analysis

Nyhavna is a town district in Trondheim between Solsiden and Lade, located by the waterfront of Nidelva. Nyhavna is close to the city center area, Midtbyen, which makes this area an attractive location both for living and working. (Fig.1)

Nyhavna is an important harbor and industrial area in the city of Trondheim. It has been gradually developed, from an estuary area formed by the Trondheim fjord and Nidelva river, with the majority of the development taking place around the early 1900’s when the area became an important harbor and port area (Fig.2). The present shape of the harbor was realized by the Germans during World War II when they built large submarine bunkers and transformed the area to serve a military function. Dora l and ll creates a natural cultural axis in the center of Nyhavna, which has a strong connection to the Second World War.

Today, Nyhavna consists of commercial buildings and storage facilities. The area gives off an industrial vibe and contains a few culturally and historically significant buildings and memorials mostly from the World War II era. Few cultural and leisure activities have been added such as the E.C.Dahl brewery and Havet Arena. There is a wide variety of services and amenities within walking distance of Nyhavna such as the Solsiden shopping center with many shops and restaurants as well as Pirbadet, Rockheim museum, Brattøra harbor and surrounding hotels.

There are several smaller neighborhood parks around Nyhavna. They are pretty scattered and underused. The closest green area is Strandveien park and the scenic pathway along the shore to Korsvika beach. The site itself has no green spaces and the connection between green spaces is missing, even though Nyhavna is located next to Nidelva which has a potential as a recreational area. (Fig.3)

The area has a few problematic spots that create traffic congestion and could be dangerous to both pedestrians and drivers. There are a few bus stops and a train stop nearby with a few pedestrian pathways, but the area is heavily dominated by roads meant for vehicles and bigger delivery trucks. The photos in figure 4, 5, and 6 illustrated the dominance of industry and roads, and not pedestrianfriendly environment.

Future Plans

Trondheim kommune’s plan for Nyhavna is planning to transform the area into an attractive and lively resident district. “The quality program for Nyhavna” suggest the waterfront should be used for experiences and commercials, solutions for dealing with weather and climate, and green qualities for recreation and biodiversity (Trondheim kommune & Trondheim Havn, 2020). The four main aims presented for Nyhavna are:

Nyhavna is a blue-green city district.

Nyhavna is a flexible and robust city district.

Nyhavna is an available and accessible city district.

Nyhavna is a city district with an identity and history.

In April 2016, the city council of Trondheim decided on a municipal partial plan for Nyhavna. This plan illustrates the future development of Nyhavna, where there is a mix between city development and harbor functions (Trondheim kommune, 2021). In the municipal partial plan, there are planned for more city center functions, but there are not many recreational areas. We think Nyhavna should focus on developing a green recreational area, as green public spaces, using the natural environment to prevent flooding. Therefore, we will look into two of the future plans for illustrating different aspects of recreational use. Also, how the future plans will develop Nyhavna as a new lively and active city center for people living, working and using the area.

In 2022, Gillardi & Hellsten designed a proposal for a competition at Nyhavna, suggesting to transform Nyhavna into an urban estuary. Their inspiration was the estuary of the river Gaula, also ending in Trondheimsfjorden, see figure 8. (Please also see their illustration plan in figure 7).

Their proposal has been an inspiration for us, because they have used the existing physical environment to make a nature reserve at Nyhavna. Their suggested transformation of Nyhavna can help prevent flooding by using the natural environment. (Grindaker & Gillhardi+Hellsten, 2022).

MAD Architects & Holt O’Brien, in a competition in 2019, focusing on the public spaces on Nyhavna, they design a lively and active image of Nyhavna, see figure 9. Also, the pathways for pedestrians are raised which make it more resilient in case of flood (fig. 10). In this proposal, the public spaces are available for people both for recreational and active uses. (Bogl, MAD Architects & Holt O’Brien, 2019).

In this report, we would like to combine MAD Architects & Holt O’Brien and Gillardi & Hellsten to think of Nyhavna as an urban estuary and make it as a public space for recreational and active uses for people. Also, we want to involve people in their community to help protect the natural environment at Nyhavna and do resilience work.