Terra-Sorta-Firma: Seeking Resilient Urbanism in South Florida

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 11.332J / 4.163J: URBAN DESIGN STUDIO

FINAL REVIEW - 12.13.2016 TERRA-SORTA -FIRMA

SEEKING RESILIENT URBANISM IN SOUTH FLORIDA

With nearly 20 million residents, Florida is one of the country’s fastest growing states. Its ubiquitous suburban landscape is enabled by the continued manipulation of a dynamic estuarine environment and a pervasive real-estatedriven housing pattern. Thirty-five miles of levees and 2,000 hydraulic pumping stations drain 860 acres of water per day, resulting in the ‘world’s largest wet subdivision’ with $101 billion worth of property projected to be below sea level by 2030. The overall structure that defines Florida’s cities emerges from the combination of hard infrastructural lines, developer driven master plans, reductive normative zoning, and rigid form-based codes. These conventional tools have proven marginally effective in dealing with the increased vulnerability caused by Florida’s inherently dynamic ecological forces and constantly fluctuating environment. This renders traditional static “object-based codification,” which has defined much of contemporary urban design, inadequate and in urgent need of innovation.

By recognizing that it is exactly in the process of design and physical planning that we may be the most operative and strategic agents, this Urban Design Studio puts front and center the agency and efficacy of urban designer’s tools as they deal with issues of 21st century urbanism. It starts by rendering the exclusivity of building cities on dry ground insufficient, and accepts a state of constant hydrological flux - that is neither wet nor dry but always shifting - as the starting point of a novel and contextual “process-based” language for the future of Floridian urbanism.

Student teams will design projects that cover many scales ranging from large-scale landscape infrastructural systems to the design of housing prototypes of varying densities. The teams will work to develop a systemically driven approach that takes the hydrological extremes and ecological resonance of the context as the foundations of their formal proposition. Through the design process, students will then devise a set of unique resiliency zoning, codes, land uses, programs, and typologies that are precise, yet dynamic, flexible, and responsive. These new codes and designs will be collected in a compendium of urban design guidelines to be handed to the practicum’s clients as they reconsider their policy documents. By incorporating the indeterminacy of the shifting broader environmental systems, with the pervasiveness and exactitude of planning code, we establish an opportunity for the instrumentality of policy to be a part of the design process and a progeny of it.

STUDIO DESCRIPTION

Several counties in South Florida began a review of their comprehensive physical planning documents since executing the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact in 2010.

Accordingly, Broward County (north of Miami-Dade) will serve as the studio and practicum’s client. Five sites of exploration follow the C-11 and Dania Cut-off Canals from the Everglades in the west, out to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the Canal is a representative range of urban, suburban, agricultural, infrastructural, and ecological, variations of Florida’s urbanization. Student teams composed of architects and planners will have the opportunity to select their site and specific programs will be developed after an initial research and mapping phase.

Team 1: The Everglades Coast Team 2: The Ranches Team 3: The Transitional PUDs (Planned Unit Developments) Team 4: The Logistical Spines Team 5: The Atlantic Coast The C-11 Basin is a region of west central Broward County, Florida, the western portion of which is drained into the Everglades through the C-11 Canal. The C-11 West Basin is an area of 72 square miles (45,701 acres), which includes five municipalities (the Cities of Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Sunrise, and Weston and the Towns of Davie and Southwest Ranches). The C-11 West Basin has experienced a population explosion since 1985.

The C-11 Basin is part of the original Everglades, and would naturally have standing water many months per year. The original inhabitants of the C-11 managed to live on the few tree islands, and navigated by dugout canoe. Conservation areas in the background of Interstate-595 show approximately what the area looked like before massive drainage projects, road construction, dredge-and-fill, and construction activities were initiated. Now the residents of the area are working together to reduce the impacts of their livelihood on the surrounding environment.

SITE BROWARD COUNTY

12:30 – 1:00 Welcome / Site Introduction 1:00 – 2:00

The Everglades

2:00 – 3:00 The Ranches 3:00 - 4:00 The PUDs 4:00 - 5:00 Logistics 5:00 - 6:00 The Atlantic

Closing Remarks 6:30pm

RM 10-485

REVIEW SCHEDULE

Celebration

Invited Guest Critics:

MIT Critics:

BARBARA BLAKE BOY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BROWARD COUNTY PLANNING COUNCIL

LORENA BELLO LECTURER - ARCHITECTURE

JASON LIECHTY PROJECTS COORDINATOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE DIVISION BROWARD COUNTY LEONARD VIALPANDO DEPUTY DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT BROWARD COUNTY ROBERT WRIGHT PROFESSOR DANIELS FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE, AND DESIGN DIRECTOR - CENTRE FOR LANDSCAPE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO JANE AMIDON PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, URBAN LANDSCAPE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AMY WHITESIDES STUDIO DIRECTOR STOSS LANDSCAPE URBANISM

MICHAEL DENNIS PROFESSOR EMERITUS - ARCHITECTURE ERAN BEN-JOSEPH PROFESSOR / HEAD - DUSP BRENT RYAN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR - DUSP HEAD OF THE CITY DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ADÈLE NAUDÉ SANTOS PROFESSOR - ARCHITECTURE DEAN SA+P (2004 - 2015) RAFI SEGAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR - ARCHITECTURE PETER DEL TREDICI LECTURER - ARCHITECTURE JAMES WESCOAT PROFESSOR DIRECTOR, URBANISM GROUP CO-DIRECTOR CENTER FOR ADVANCED URBANISM MEEJIN YOON PROFESSOR / HEAD - ARCHITECTURE

INVITED CRITICS

ATLANTIC COAST PAMELA BELLAVITA CARVAJAL DENNIS HARVEY RANU SIGNGH The Atlantic coast is a system in constant flux. The landscape of the coast, which has been host to various ecosystems, peoples and settlements, experiences continuous changes with the rhythm of tides, recurring patterns of hurricanes and with climate change.

The proposal seeks to work with the hydrological, ecological and social systems in flux and utilize the opportunities that arise from it. We have identified three primary goals that our plan seeks to achieve. The first is to shift density from the low-lying portions of the site to onto higher ground where we have proposed urban form that respond to climate change and the increase in population. The second is to design a performative landscape that utilizes mangroves and other vegetation to protect neighborhoods from storm surge and urban heat island effect, as well as provides access to recreation opportunities. The third goal sculpt the topography in a way to works with the tidal dynamics, drainage of stormwater, and stochastic events such as storm surges. With detailed mapping of sea level rise in the site that spans parts of Dania Beach and Hollywood city, we identified zoning districts based on elevation and divided it into three main categories: The Uplands, Inter-coastal and Barrier Island zones.

The Upland zone, which is topographically the highest zone of the site, is morphed to create an edge of berms and drainage parks that protect the ridge from six feet of sea level rise and king tide events and at the same time allow sea water, storm surge and rain water to drain through it. The new pedestrian boardwalk which weaves through the edge of the Uplands becomes a public and recreational space allowing many activities to take place on it. With rising sea levels and transferring families from the affected areas of the coast, this place becomes a receiving zone for density and an attraction for new developments along the parks, boardwalk and edge. New typologies for various density blocks are introduced in the zone that minimize solar gain, decrease urban heat island effect by creating shaded urban streets, walkways and shared spaces while maximizing ventilation.

The Inter-coastal zone becomes an archipelago where each island is protected by mangroves that help retain soil and protect it from storm surge. The zone is divided into various levels that allow flooding and are designed to encourage various uses and functions with sea level rise. The lower levels of the zone encourage movement of mangrove ecosystems through the changing built form, topography and hydrology that create thresholds of resiliency. The higher levels are designed to form floating walkways, parks, pools, playgrounds, nature parks and observatories.

The Barrier Island zone, which is the center of the tourism and cultural identity of the place is affected the most by sea level rise. To mitigate the effects of sea level rise, the coastline is protected with offshore barriers that retain sand behind which nourishment can take place. The vegetation cover of the coast is enlarged and diversified to protect the dunes from erosion. New typologies of hotel buildings are introduced that are elevated to function with sea level rise and storm surge events.

Through the various zones, the proposal aims to integrate urban experience with environmental systems in a way in which they work together rather than in opposition to each other, strengthening the identity and the experience of the place.

LOGISTICS DIANA ANG ALAA MUKAHHAL JUSTIN LIM The Logistics site is home to Broward County’s foremost economic engines. Millions of people and thousands of tons of goods pass through the site’s growing ports: Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale International Airport, and Port Lauderdale. Warehouses for distribution, industrial storage, and other uses fill the western half of the site. The site’s logistics and transportation infrastructure includes highways, marinas, yacht repair facilities, and rail lines that run cargo and passenger lines, including the soon to be opened Brightline that will connect Orlando to Miami. The site hosts one of the fastest growing airports in the country, and Florida’s largest port. Port Everglades, has imported or exported 948,680 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods in 2015 alone. The highway infrastructure and the airport are elevated, protecting them from sea level rise. The rest of the area, however, is susceptible to storm surges, flooding, and rising sea levels. Our project focuses on using water as an asset. Flooding due to sea levels, king tides, and storm surges are inevitable, and our proposal aims to capitalize on water to expand and intensify logistical and economic activities.

Canals and waterways have historically been a part of the infrastructure that connects Florida regionally and locally. Presently, the canals and waterways are highly engineered and used primarily for water control, with some recreational use. Looking closer into the site, we see that the port and the airport are man-made islands physically disconnected from the area and are, for security reasons, inaccessible to the public. The Dania Cut Off Canal cuts through site, past the “islands,” and remains underutilized and often hidden from sight.

Our vision for the site centers on leveraging and connecting the economic activities by activating and expanding the canals. Rising sea levels feed into this infrastructure, creating economic opportunities, not despite of, but because of water. Port Everglades expands in width and depth along flood lines, allowing more and bigger cargo and cruise ship. The expansion fits into Port Everglades current plans to expand to allow post Panamax ships into the port.

Here, we introduce the fourth infrastructure, BarGo, or modular barges that enable the growth of transportation of people and goods across and throughout the canal system. These barges are charged and stored in key multi-story intermodal transit centers. These centers of economic activity and open space are called Bargo Cities. The barges are designed for ease of use and accessibility to encourage travel through the canal. They can also be connected to create larger barges, roads, and infrastructure to transport goods to warehouses along the canal. The barges interact with other barges and the edges of the canal to create new uses and new possibilities.

The new waterways infrastructure is phased out over multiple decades, coinciding with and embracing flooding, higher sea levels, and storm surges. Our approach is adaptive rather than defensive. The phases of the project are paced temporally in areas most vulnerable to flooding. The proposal reshapes the canal system to serve the ports, warehouses, and distribution centers. The flexibility of the barges allows for spontaneous build up and quick transformations depending on the needs of its users. Regionally, our goal is that economically stimulating the canals locally will spur further use of water based economies across the state, and, possibly, beyond.

PUD NEGOTIATIONS GIOVANNI BELLOTTI ELAINE KIM ANNIE RYAN ALEXANDER WIEGRING SPITZER

Starting in the early 90’s the residential planned unit development (PUD) has been the driving force shaping the urban form the City of Davie — the carving out of large tracts of agricultural land and turning it into repetitive rows of detached single family housing surrounded by canals and retention ponds has transformed the county.

The result is a vast landscape of single-use and insular development forms that create a car-oriented environment and disconnected natural systems. Beyond this issue of insularity, the resource intensive process that is required for new PUDs also necessitates in a substantially altered landscape that is engineered to flooding due to rising sea levels. The result is a spectrum of flood risk for the City, with wealthier residents living in newly constructed PUDs facing lower levels of risk than their lower income neighbors to the east.

There are 63 master-planned housing developments within the site that are controlled by a Home Owners Association (HOA): over 5,000 units of housing which make up nearly 125 thousand square feet. Each homeowner in these neighborhoods agrees to the HOA’s CC&R — the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions — which provide detailed rules on fence heights, tree coverage, and paint colors. Outside of the boundaries of detailed control, there are the spaces “that don’t have a sheriff.”

Tracing the vacant lots, parks and open space, agricultural land, and land that has low amounts of built space, we see that these spaces add up to create a large network of soft programmed space.

We challenge the sharp boundaries that exist between them, and at the same time embrace the existing control extremes as a way to implement changes through new negotiations inside the PUD, and between the PUD and the soft spaces. By forming negotiations between homeowner to homeowner, PUD to PUD, residential development to natural landscape, and residential and commercial uses, the design strategies create opportunities for strategic, agile interventions that transform a relentlessly homogenous, inward-facing development pattern.

THE RANCHES JESSIE HENEGHAN YI LIU DAYA ZHANG A rural outpost amidst planned unit developments The Southwest Ranches is a rural outpost amidst developer-driven planned unit developments. The Southwest Ranches have maintained their rural identity through avoiding new planned unit development projects and also allowing agricultural and ranch activities like nurseries, equestrian parks, cattle raising, and other small agriculture activities to be mixed in with residential uses in their zoning code. To prepare for future changes both in climate and population growth, we are proposing the ranches shift its town goal from preserving their rural lifestyle in its current form to a new rural urbanism that incorporates a collective protection mechanism from flooding, promotes agriculture that produces food, and provides for a greater amount of housing units for a growing population.

Flood Vulnerability in the Ranches During our site analysis we found an underlying vulnerability to flooding. The ranches site, which was at one point the same typology as its neighbor to the west, the Everglades, sits on a large expanse of land characterized by 1 to 2.5 acre lots with single-family homes. With large parcels over a wide expanse of land, more rainwater collects in the Southwest Ranches than can be drained to the canal. Homeowners are currently required to store water on 20% of the area of their parcel. While the Planned Unit Developments are built on fill that was dug up to create catchment areas for rainwater, the ranches have not been arranged in a way to collectively store water and keep other strategic places dry. Our meeting with the South Broward Drainage District confirmed this finding, as they gave us a clear directive to create water storage to address the high flooding risk. Dry Agricultural Ridge and a Saturation Zone We used flooding simulations to understand where the highest and lowest areas on the site were located to begin to understand the best locations for water storage. We found a linear arrangement of dry land created from houses slightly raised and in a similar position on their lot, towards the front end of the parcel. By setting guidelines for homeowners to slightly grade their yards along a slope towards the edge of their parcel line in the backyard, a new saturation zone is created throughout that provides resiliency to flooding, and a new ecology. With flooding occurring at different heights depending on seasons and storms, different agricultural crops and plants emerge that respond to and depend on the varying water levels. The graded fill used to create the saturation zone is used to build up the ridge, which provides critical evacuation in times of emergency. By dedicating a percentage of the yard to food production and >20% water storage, homeowners can see a deduction in their property taxes. Farming guidelines are also provided that detail food crops’ growing schedules and tolerance to saturation to support growing efforts of homeowners and other interested groups. A New Town Center With the understanding that there will be an increased growth in population due to coastal inhabitants moving inland away from rising sea levels, we plan to localize density in a new town center, as well as increase the maximum FAR in the residential areas. The ranches and ridges area prioritize food farming, and thus, form the production zone, whereas the town center becomes a hub for consumption of the food grown in the production zone. The town center is designed with a new housing typology suitable for the Southwest Florida climate. The new zoning for higher density in this area calls for an open ground floor that creates a series of open spaces made up of shaded courtyards. These spaces connect and create an amenable public realm that holds water for both aesthetic and cooling purposes. Within these series of courtyards and plazas along a vibrant main street, a market is held where farmers can come and sell their locally grown food to neighbors and visitors on a regular basis.

Physical, Social, and Economic Resiliency on the Ranches Our design proposal promotes a transition from a focus on private space and individual effort that creates a condition of vulnerability toward a more resilient shared system that can bounce back from future shocks and changes. Our design strategy is a plan for changing the landform of the ranches to incentivize local food production, create the opportunity for denser living, while at the same time and most importantly, creating a safer and better-managed water drainage and storage system that protects from flooding.

THE EVERGLADES MONICA HUTTON SAM JUNG ANGELOS SIAMPAKOULIS

In 2006, the South Florida Water Management District issued a resolution stating the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee posed a “grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida.” Since 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers has made over $500 million investments to upgrade the Herbert Hoover Dike. Without guaranteed funding and continued repairs, a 2011 risk assessment estimated the dike’s probable failure rate at every fourteen years, which can impact not only the 40,000 residents within the immediate vicinity of the dike, but the combined population of more than five million in the three counties southeast of Lake Okeechobee. The East Coast Protective Levee is the singular “hard line” of defense that separates Broward County not only from the Everglades, but also any potential storm surge that may inundate South Florida in the case of hurricane induced failure of the Herbert Hoover Dike. What has typically been considered as the safe “edge” that characterizes the lands adjacent to the Levee is afforded by this “hard line” of infrastructure which sets the condition of possibility for life Broward County to exist as it does, safely above water.

High rainfall events that produce storm water influxes threaten the integrity of the levees that must hold back water in the Everglades conservation areas from breaching the retaining structure and moving water into the urban area of Broward County. Additionally, urbanization aided by the canalization of water flows, has expanded into what is called the transverse glades (Everglades that trend east-west instead of north-south). This process has allowed development to occur in these paleo-drainageways that are at risk of flooding under extreme rainfalls when storm water surges will move from the “Everglades coast” westward through Broward County along these transverse glades. The “Everglades Coast” is susceptible to a similar threat as the one that sea level rise poses for the Atlantic Coast of Broward County: potential flooding from storm surges from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Our analysis, in addition to existing research, has led us to understand this edge as the “other vulnerable coast. Broward County currently seeks to create more opportunities for water storage, aquifer replenishment, to bolster climate resiliency, and foster energy security.

For long, the Everglades has not been acknowledged as part of Broward County in the spatial imagination of its residents despite the fact it constitutes 2/3 of the County. This has led many to falsely consider the developed areas of Broward as constituting the entirety of the County. Our design approach seeks to intervene in the Everglades coast to not only bolster its capacity to withstand man-made and natural disasters, but catalyze the transformation of the spatial imaginary of Broward County residents to connect them to the immense natural treasure that is the Everglades.

TEACHING TEAM FADI MASOUD Lecturer of Landscape Archtectre and Urban Design MIHO MAZEREEUW Assistant Professor of Archtectre and Urban Design Director Urban Risk Lab GARINE BOGHOSSIAN Teaching Assistant

SPECIAL THANKS

HENRY SNIEZEK, MARIBEL FELICIANO, JENNIFER L. JURADO, JASON LIETCHY, BARBARA BLAKE BOY, LEONARD VIALPANDO, and BROWARD COUNTY STAFF. OBEY JAYANTHA, KEVIN HART STACEY STEWART, MARIA MORAN, ALMA PELLECER, PHIL SUNDE, HARRIETTE CRAWFORD, PRUDENCE ROBINSON, ERAN BEN-JOSEPH, MEEJIN YOON