ABSTRACT
The City of Boston, MA recognized the threat of climate change relatively early compared to other US cities and, over the past 20 years, has undertaken a multifaceted approach to analyzing and addressing the risks of coastal flooding, stormwater flooding, and increased heat to the City’s diverse population, infrastructure, parks, and open spaces. At the center of planning for coastal flooding is the 2016 Climate Ready Boston Plan and the series of neighborhood-specific plans that follow. Each of these plans evaluates risks and outlines short-term and long-term measures to build a climate-adapted and socially resilient city. Moakley Park, one of a number of short-term catalytic projects identified through the planning process, currently in design and planned for phased implementation, highlights the opportunities and challenges of designing for resilience in a dense urban population with 47 miles of shoreline and projected up to 40 inches of sea level rise in the next 50 years.
