Water and the Future of Urban Design

WATER AND THE FUTURE OF URBAN DESIGN Since the dawn of civilization, water has been intrinsically tied to the evolution of cities. Water determined where they were founded; how quickly they grew; the health of urban populations; who among their citizens prospered, and who didn’t. In the decades to come, with the world’s population increasingly concentrated in urban areas—66% by 2050— water will play an even greater role in the health and well-being of humanity.

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“Water is a narrative that tells the story of the social political frameworks of our cities” María Bellalta, the BAC’s dean of the School of Landscape Architecture.

The three factors that will impact our future— climate change, population growth, urbanization—are intrinsically tied to water. With much of the world’s population increasingly crowded into mega cities close to sea level—like Jakarta, Lagos, New York, and Shanghai—rising ocean waters will require investment in massive flood control programs, or population relocation to higher ground. And with fresh water already in limited supply, a planet with 10 billion people will struggle to address the competing water needs of agricultural, industrial, and personal consumption.

For most of human history, those with money and influence have sought to control water—to tame it, to tap its energy, to move across it, and to use it to exploit others. Some are starting to view it in a very different light—to see the universal quality of water as a way to bring people together in discussions about our future and find solutions that work from the bottom up.

María Bellalta, dean of the School of Landscape Architecture at the BAC, believes strongly that the narrative of water can begin to redress the imbalance of power and wealth in the world. “Designers are uniquely positioned to promote this dialog through their work,” she says.

Water has played a profound role in Bellalta’s personal and professional lives. Growing up in Chile, a nation with extreme conditions—from the arid wastes of the northern Atacama Desert to the fjords and glaciers of the mountainous south—she was aware of how water shaped her country’s growth. As a Boston resident, she’s lived in a transition zone between land and sea, where water, once a medium of commerce and transportation, is increasingly seen as a threat.

“Water is something we should all be talking about right now,” says Bellalta. “We need to take the long view, and in doing so, we need to engage everyone in the planning process.”

BOSTON: A WATER CHRONOLOGY Pilgrims move from site of Charlestown to the Shawmut Peninsula to take advantage of a fresh water spring on the Trimountain, enabling the founding of Boston.

Paul Revere rows from the North End to Charlestown to begin his famous ride.

The Commonwealth begins to fill the Charles River tidal flats, creating the first streets in the Back Bay.

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Glaciers begin their retreat from Eastern Massachusetts.

Boston builds the first municipal water system in the English colonies.

The Middlesex Canal opens, bringing agricultural products and goods produced at the Lowell Mills to Boston Harbor.

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Bellalta is a proponent of Social Urbanism— considering landscapes from a social perspective, and how they can promote (or hinder) connections between different peoples and be agents for improving the health and well-being for all. She thinks we are entering a time where we will be much more sensitized to the environmental changes occurring, their impact on landscapes and society, and how we can be more inclusive in the ways we address them. She calls this “Our Climate Culture.”

To Bellalta, Boston’s booming Seaport District is the very opposite of Climate Culture. She thinks the city and developers were eager to exploit the site quickly, with little consideration for rising sea levels, or how this prime real estate could benefit Boston’s diverse communities.

“It’s a classic case of short-term, top-down thinking,” says Bellalta. “Their primary interest seems to have been how to squeeze as much luxury housing and Class A office space into the area as possible.” With coastal flooding a growing concern, Bellalta feels solutions should engage all communities, not just those immediately affected.

The dialog over water, and the search for innovative, inclusive solutions is being woven into the work of faculty and students at the BAC’s School of Landscape Architecture. Three years ago, their submission to the Boston Living with Water international design competition won the People’s Choice Award. The faculty/student design turned the divisive landscape of Fort Point Channel into a unifying element of urban life by using the sounds and smells of the ocean, and the plants and animals that thrive along the shoreline, to reconnect people to water.

In 2017, the BAC joined with Centro Metropolitano de Arquitectura Sustenable in Mexico City to present a joint exhibit Because of Water/A Causa del Agua.

“The two cities couldn’t be more different in terms of water—Mexico City, built on a marshy lake high in the mountains, is sinking,” says Bellalta, “while Boston, built in and around tidal estuaries, is flooding.” The exhibit showcased the work of the two organizations and demonstrates the power of cross-cultural exchange through a common dialog around water.

Bellalta believes this idea exchange is an opportunity to expose BAC students to the thinking of people in By engaging many perspectives, designers can different cultures. She has organized several student see how choices impact different people, and come trips to Medellin, Colombia, a city that has up with solutions that serve multiple needs. implemented many innovative solutions to make it “Innovative ideas that mitigate the impact of flooding,” “more inviting and life-giving” for its residents. she explains, “can also improve the marine “Going to Medellin has helped our students see how environment, create more public open space, and other countries deal successfully with urban social engage minority contractors and workers in their issues,” she explains. “This helps to get them out of construction.” the Northern mindset of ‘we have the answers to your problems, let us come fix things for you’ and recognize the need for collaboration, as equals,

Plans for Harborwalk, a continuous series of parks and walkways around Boston Harbor, are first conceived by park advocates and the Flynn administration.

A new federal courthouse is built on Fan Pier, kicking off a decades-long building boom in Boston’s newest neighborhoods, Fort Point and the Seaport District.

Tidal storm surges flood roads in the Seaport District.

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Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmstead completes plans for The Back Bay Fens—the first park in Boston’s celebrated Emerald Necklace.

The EPA sues Boston’s Metropolitan District Commission over pollution in Boston Harbor.

BAC launches a Climate Action Plan with its Green Alley Stormwater Recapture Project.

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between cultures.” While in Medellin, the students studied the effects of growing urbanization on water runoff in the mountains around the city, and how Medellin planners were dealing with them.

Water has proven inspirational to a number of BAC students and alumni who have engaged in water issues in thesis projects and post graduate professional study.

Anahita Kianous, MLA ’15, created a way to mitigate tidal surge floods by designing a system of resilient coastal landscapes that transfer ocean water to wetlands behind the coastal waterfront. The U.S. Army Hydraulic Lab was impressed by her thesis and invited her to consult on a project to test if it could be applied to river basins.

The College as a whole has taken up the issue of water through its Green Alley project, the centerpiece of its Urban Sustainability Initiative. In the Green Alley connecting the school’s Newbury Street and Boylston Street buildings, the BAC is demonstrating solutions for geothermal heating and cooling by running water through the soil and gravel fill below the alley, and controlling water run-off through permeable pavement. The College sees this work as much more than a token effort at sustainability—learning from the project is being shared with area planners and designers, in the hope that these solutions can be scaled a thousand-fold across the city.

“With our focus on diversity and social justice,” says Bellalta, “water will be an increasingly important theme at the BAC. I look forward to working with a new generation of activist designers who are engaged in this narrative.”

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In the fall of 2016, 10 BAC students participated in an Architectural Studio III class on site work and resiliency. The focus of their work? The waterfront of the city of Lynn, 10 miles north of Boston. The class began with research on the impact of sea level rise on the Lynnway (Route 3A) and adjoining property between the water, the highway and downtown Lynn. “Our research focused on the vulnerabilities of the site faced through the ‘SEE’ lenses of resiliency: Social, Economic, and Environmental,” said Noah Geupel, one of class participants. In their research, the students found that sea levels will rise approximately six feet by 2050, and at that level, storm surges would inundate the highway and a number of crucial city services, including the landfill, wastewater treatment, gas, and electrical plants.

The students developed a master plan to mitigate the impact of flooding on the area. Their innovative plan included integration of floodable canals and greenways into a new road and pathway plan for the waterfront. During storm surges, the water would be absorbed in the canals and natural meadows. The students’ plan included a number of positive improvements for Lynn residents as well, including connection of existing streets, which had terminated at the Lynnway, to the waterfront; more parks and walkways near the water; a new wastewater renewal plant, including a biofuel generator; and a new school that would act as a symbol of the city’s resiliency and rejuvenation.

In the spring of 2017, the students’ work, “Resilient Lynn”, was exhibited at the Lynn Museum.

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