On the second anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Walsh took to the Boston Convention and Exposition Center to make a major climate preparedness announcement at the ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX). The mayor kicked off the Living With Water design challenge which he, and accompanying leaders in the field and neighboring cities, hopes will yield sea level rise adaptability results for the entire region to utilize.
Mayor Walsh was joined by the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s chief planner Kairos Shen, Boston’s environment and energy chief Brian Swett, and the city planners of Cambridge and Chelsea to help ring in the competition. While Boston hopes to implement any advantageous design plans within its own city limits, the ultimate goal is to create regional partnership with strong central leadership in order to become the model by which cities and regions nationwide can follow.
To that end, Mayor Walsh also announced that the first regional climate preparedness summit will be held in Boston come 2015. It’s slated to be held at UMass Boston, aptly situated on Boston Harbor, and aims to generate “cross-government action going forward.”
In the meantime, though, he, Shen, Swett and the competition’s stewards (Sasaki Associates, the Boston Society of Architects and The Boston Harbor Association) will be focusing on three specific problem areas in Boston that could bolster the forthcoming regional effort.
“There is no issue more urgent than climate action. When we work together, the steps we take do more than protect us: they can bring us closer together, they can create good jobs, they can improve our health, our public space, and our civic life,” said Mayor Walsh. “I look forward to working closely with the MAPC, the Metro Mayor’s Coalition, and the Commonwealth on this critical issue.”
The Prince Building in Boston’s North End, 100 Acres in Fort Point Channel, and Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester will be the areas of focus for civic designers and architects, who will also be vying for a first place prize of $20,000.
Kairos Shen, who along with Brian Swett announced the competition back in August, said those three sites were chosen for specific reasons.
The Prince Building will emphasize the need for adaptable infrastructure and buildings, 100 Acres will become a small sustainable community and Morrissey Boulevard, which has a tendency to become submerged from storm tides, will punctuate flooding dexterity.
“Last year’s vulnerability assessment was a critical step to making Boston’s municipal operations more prepared for the impacts of climate change,” said Swett. “We continue to build on this study and take action across all departments to ensure we are prepared for the future climate.”
Related City Hall, “In the past year, the City has made significant progress on reducing these vulnerabilities, especially in the areas of emergency response, extreme heat preparedness, flood and stormwater management, capital planning, and community engagement.”
The City of Boston will also release an updated version of its Climate Action Plan on November 10 for public comment.
Stay dry, my friends.
