GSAPP Alumni Forum: Rise

On March 8, I attended the GSAPP Alumni Forum: Rise, which was a panel discussion led by global thought leaders from various disciplines on the relationship between climate change, extreme weather events and the built environment. The discussion was led by Andrew Revkin who is the senior fellow for environmental understanding at Pace University's Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, and also writes the Dot Earth blog for the Op-Ed section of The New York Times. The panel members consisted of: Susanna Drake, the principal of dlandstudio architecture + landscape architecture pllc, Klaus Jacob, a Senior Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Cynthia Rosenzweig, a Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies where she heads the Climate Impacts Group, Guy Nordensen, a professor of structural engineering and architecture at Princeton University, and Jeff Orlowski, a videographer who worked with National Geographic photographer James Balog on the initial expedition of The Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), and who's footage will now appear in the documentary feature film Chasing Ice.

Something that the panelists kept mentioning was that New York has many advantages that need to be taken into consideration when adapting to climate change. They stated that, because of the damage caused by Sandy and the damage that will inevitably be caused by future storms, it does not make sense for these low-lying areas to be occupied--especially because in New York we have the ability to retreat to higher ground. Buying properties in the flood zone and prohibiting them from being redeveloped is a good first step in the right direction, but something more must be done. They suggested that some sort of mechanism, such as creating barrier islands or wetlands off the coast, be put in place to break the frequency of the waves/surge caused by storms. These barriers need to accentuate the natural ecosystem so that they can grow and become stronger over time. The New York City Parks Department is currently initiating a study on the value of creating wetlands as a barrier.

Although this idea of creating barrier islands/wetlands as a barrier seems completely feasible, the science to support this idea is missing. Also, if these barriers are built, they will work for 50-80 years, but as sea levels rise these barriers will become dysfunctional. So, whatever barriers might be created need to take into account the topography and use it as an advantage. Furthermore, a large part of the challenge lies in creating a system that can be learnt about as we go along and that will strengthen over time. Cynthia Rosenzweig commented that Sandy has marked a sort of "tipping point" where science, politics (with people such as Bloomberg, Cuomo, and Obama in office) and design creativity are aligned in New York, making it the perfect time for a viable solution to be developed.

As we have heard from almost every professional we have met with, the panelists stated that a dramatic change in infrastructure needs to occur, but that it must be addressed separately from above ground structures. A drive in policy making is also a necessity. Scientists are working very hard on research so that new policies can be made immediately, but New York is very institutionalized and is bad at translating research into action. All departments need to collaborate and do something about regulatory structures in order for policy making to become easier. We put in place rules and regulations to protect people, but they actually end up preventing people from getting things done. Something that is missing from this overall equation is the planning community seriously thinking about sea level rise.

Klaus Jacob stated that the current generation has an obligation to plan in the context of sea level rise and climate change and that a city Master Plan concept for an ever-expanding city with constant sea level rise needs to be developed. As we know, funding for these operations is also an issue. Susanna Drake mentioned the idea of establishing a National Infrastructure Fund (like the WPA), which will be funded by a tax placed on the biggest polluters.

There was a lot of repetition of things we have already heard and, as you can probably tell from my summary, there is still a lot of debate going on about what should be done, but I think that people are really thinking about it seriously and it will be interesting to see how quickly, or slowly, things get done.