Living with Water | Water-Sensitive Urban Planning in Light of Rising Sea Levels

The project explores a futuristic scenario that derives from the accelerating global warming – a 3 meter rise in sea level by 2100. This rise will generate a new encounter between city and water.

Currently, future planning for this scenario is sorely lacking. Therefore, water is anticipated to flow into the land and cause damage to infrastructures, buildings, habitats and biological ecosystems. However, a long-term planning strategy makes it possible to plan and prepare for this encounter, and to regard it as an opportunity to create a system that incorporates water as an element of urban planning.

The project focuses on the Yarkon peninsula in Tel-Aviv. The proposed urban structure creates a flexible space that is able to contain climate events and improves quality of life in the process. The planning strategy is site specific and takes into consideration key local urban issues: use of a public land reserve for city residents, continuity and walkability, open public spaces, and a variety of ecological habitats. Moreover, it provides a solution for future climate impacts, including rising sea levels, summertime heat islands, and wintertime peak events of floods and storms.

The project aspires to increase awareness of the climate crisis and to shine a spotlight on our ability as individuals and as a society to be proactive and take initiative in planning our future space.