PhD Dissertation in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Aug 14, 2015
Wide estuaries are natural magnets for urban development. Several of the World’s major cities dev... more Wide estuaries are natural magnets for urban development. Several of the World’s major cities developed around estuaries, but at the same time encroached upon some of the most complex and vital ecosystems. Sea-level rise threatens to submerge both rare wetland habitat and essential urban areas and infrastructure. This prospect discloses the urgency of balancing urban development and environmental protection in Metropolitan Estuaries. The hard task of dealing with this threat may provide the opportunity to promote an integrated approach to regional planning, where the necessary adaptation of cities to sea-level rise could equally promote the preservation, or even the enhancement, of wetland habitat. The two case study metropolitan estuaries, San Francisco Bay (California, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal), share striking similarities in terms of morphology. They both host large metropolitan areas and important wetland ecosystems. Nevertheless, a finer analysis of development patterns reveals crucial differences in the extent of shoreline alteration and types of land use that now encroach upon natural estuarine habitat. The comparative study of both estuaries provides mutually beneficial insights on the shortcomings of each system, and helps identify opportunities to enhance coastal zone management, adaptive governance and environmental planning efforts. The evolution of both estuaries throughout the Holocene is reconstructed, with special emphasis on the process of anthropogenic alteration. While this impact has been significant and continuous in the Tagus Estuary for over two millennia, large scale disturbance of the San Francisco Bay was concentrated in the last two centuries. The legal frameworks that have guided, with varying degrees of effectiveness, the process of wetland reclamation and landfilling share a common ancestry in the Roman Law. These have evolved continuously in Lisbon and the State has upheld with relative success the provision to keep estuarine lowlands in public control, even as they were steadily transformed to farmland. In San Francisco, a period of deep disturbances over the Sacramento River’s hydrology was coupled with extremely fast and under regulated development of lowlands. During a short period, the property of these lands, which would theoretically fall within the Public Trust, was transferred to local governments and private landowners, which led to their steady transformation onto salt ponds, industrial zones and even residential neighborhoods. As a consequence, the Bay Area now has extensive developed areas at very low elevations, vulnerable to low levels of sea-level rise, and remaining wetlands are now heavily encroached upon by urban development. Around the Tagus Estuary, while most original wetlands have long been drained for farmland, the remaining patches are adjacent to non-urban land uses, which could facilitate future efforts of restoration or allow wetland migration with rising seas. A comparative modelling of sea-level rise flooding over existing land uses reveals that, while around the Tagus Estuary most reclaimed lowlands are reserved for farmland and urban development over landfill is limited, the extent of developed urban areas at very low elevations is much greater around the SF Bay, which renders the region more vulnerable to early stages of SLR. Nonetheless, both cities have begun to incorporate climate adaptation onto their main environmental planning blueprints, for which they can be seen as early adopters of local sea-level rise adaptation strategies. Through interviews with stakeholders and document analysis, the planning and decision-making exercises that led to the recent elaboration of the first Tagus Estuary Management Plan, and the Bay Plan Climate Change Amendment, are analyzed and discussed. Lisbon benefits from a very simple, top-down, planning structure, with a handful of public entities directly communicating and articulating stakes and approaches along the planning process. A lack of transparency as to some specific interventions and a still somewhat incipient tradition of public participation have contributed to protract the Plan’s final approval. The Bay Area institutional framework is well-used to collaborative planning efforts, which are usually successful in articulating conflicting interests, but are prone to limitations derived from narrow, and often difficult to expand, mandates for environmental planning agencies, within an extremely complex, multi-level, governance structure involving three levels of government and very active interest groups. While broad mitigation/adaptation strategies are decided at the National or State levels, the actual implementation of SLR adaptation measures often require a great deal of involvement of local actors. Given that it is at this juncture that adaptation takes a concrete spatial expression, this is also the moment when land-use conflicts arise. Local governments are left with much of the burden of mediating competing interests, between urban development, environmental protection, and other social demands. In some instances, the prospect of shoreline development may be very attractive for both property owners/developers and local governments, given the potential land value and economic benefits, but these have to be weighed against the medium-/long-term costs of defending these assets from rising sea-levels. In San Francisco Bay, there is an increasing awareness of the challenges posed by SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. The several projects where different federal and state agencies are partnered with local governments highlight the benefits of a more frank and regular communication between public actors. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance. Whereas the articulation of public actors is often easy to address by increasing communication and coordination, conflicts involving private landowners and developers may be much complicated by the threat of litigation. The lack of a strong legal backing to public environmental protection mandates is a major obstacle to shoreline planning around the Bay and elsewhere, and this is highlighted by the extreme caution of some public agencies in upholding their jurisdictions over private property. Environmental NGOs have, in the case of California, a big role to play, as they are able to resort to the same legal and lobbying instruments as the developers, and may help even-out the field between public stakeholders with limited legal and economic resources, and powerful private developers with nothing to lose. There is seemingly a sense of urgency in pushing for the development of shoreline properties, as public opposition to development on locations exposed to SLR is most likely to increase in the coming decades. At the same time, NGOs and public agencies are aware of the stress wetlands will be under as the rates of SLR increase towards the end of the century. “Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees.
Cities and rivers have always been closely associated throughout history; Portugal’s urban networ... more Cities and rivers have always been closely associated throughout history; Portugal’s urban network developed in close correlation with the river system, the result of cross-influences from very distinct cultures. To this day, the vast majority of Portuguese urban centres are located by rivers.
Up until recently, cities depended on rivers as a source of water for domestic use, agriculture and industry. Waterways were crucial for trade between cities. The demise of their role in the regular functioning of the city, linked to the decay of their economic importance, led to a tipping of the balance between human stakes and those for environmental protection, with the prevalence of the first.
The ever present menace of urban flooding, as well as the inefficiency in sewage treatment and collection, led on occasion to the adoption of “hard” hydraulic solutions, with grave impact over the natural balance of the river corridors. Neglect often ensued, and led to a progressive estrangement of the riverside populations and “their” rivers.
A new paradigm is now beginning to emerge, concerning the association of rivers and cities. It bases itself on the search for new solutions, that allow for an increased closeness between these populations and the river, incorporating both the need for flood prevention and protection and the desired improvement of urban environmental sustainability.
This new approach, more holistic and multidisciplinary, may lead to an enhanced integration of city and river, through the improvement of the system of parks and public spaces, and the reestablishment of the urban ecological network.
Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to ... more Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to increasing the competitiveness, efficiency, and equity thereof. We use a theoretical structure that combines the history of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with three conceptual elements: shift from government to governance; paradigms of metropolitan governance; and factors specific to metropolitan areas. Through these, we reveal the complex institutional architecture at play in this territory. Finally, we explore to what extent these relate with legal framework and development pressures, and how the latter frequently seem to be conditioned by conjunctural impulses and not by a long-term vision.-KEYWORDS Metropolitan governance models, metropolitan institutional arrangement, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, values of power, metropolitan cooperation CONTACT Jorge Gonçalves
Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development,... more Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development, carrying the ability to create lasting physical, political, social, and economic legacies. Waterfront redevelopment has become a primary mechanism for revitalizing urban spaces, especially through brownfield requalification, and the Olympics have not been indifferent to this trend. Several recent editions have engaged in the rehabilitation of urban waterfronts. To analyze common mistakes that may impair the quality of these interventions, we apply a revised version of a binary evaluation tool to nine such Olympic Waterfronts, starting with Barcelona 1992, assessing their contexts, budgets, programs, plans, and environmental integration. The results show that the Olympic Waterfront can drastically change the image of the city, greatly contributing to the perceived success of the event’s legacy and creating new urban centralities. However, the inadequate management in the planning, delive...
Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly al... more Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river va...
San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroach... more San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea-level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems. "Green", or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees. We analyzed the Bay's environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two cases where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards & practices or to make uneasy choices between conflicting public interests. Among the region's stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and cu... more By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and culture along and across rivers, recognizing longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity, much as has been described for other rivers for hydrology and ecology. We focus on rivers as they pass through cities, and the relationships between these rivers and city dwellers. Historically, the most important longitudinal connectivity function of rivers was their role as major transport routes and the simplification of formerly complex, irregular banks and beds, into straight, uniform shipping channels has resulted in a loss of lateral and vertical connectivity, notably the quotidian uses such as fishing, washing clothes, water supply, swimming and other recreation. The scale of the river itself, and its scale in comparison to the scale of the city, largely determine the river"s social function and the degree to which it influences city form. River width influences the perception of "closeness" of the other bank, ease of bridging the river, influence of the river on the city"s street pattern, and type of waterfront uses that occur. Up to 15m wide, people can converse, whereas across rivers ~50 to ~200m wide, people are not recognizable but still clearly visible, instilling the banks with a "lively" atmosphere. At widths over ~200m, people blur, moving vehicles and trees branches shaking in wind may still provide some dynamic elements to an otherwise static landscape composed of building facades. In exceptionally wide rivers, the city on the opposite bank is little more than a skyline, which often becomes a signature and symbol of regional identity. In contemplating how people use rivers, we can define a range of human activities in relation to height above the water (i.e., instream to banktop), a vertical dimension of human connectivity with rivers. Many uses occur on the top of the bank, such as quiet contemplation, walking, or cycling along a riverside trail, while others depend on contact with the water itself, such as wading, diving, and canoeing (which presupposes adequate water quality). Many of these relationships are illustrated by the challenge of reconnecting Cairo with the Nile.
The municipality of Tomar presents a very scattered human occupation of the territory. The permis... more The municipality of Tomar presents a very scattered human occupation of the territory. The permissive development laws for “rural” land, as stated by the Municipal Land-use Plan (PDM) of 1994, have in fact contributed to heighten this form of occupation. During the current revision of the PDM, the intention of strengthening and consolidating existing settlements has been repeatedly stated, instead of the definition of over-dimensioned expansion areas and construction in “rural” land, avoiding, whenever possible the linear extension along the roads. This is, in fact, one of the main concerns of the Regional Plan for the “Oeste e Vale do Tejo” (PROT-OVT), a planning instrument of higher hierarchy, to which the PDM must conform. In the planning norms, this document emphasizes the need for the PDM to establish models of land-use that promote the concentration of buildings in the delimited urban or rural settlements, avoiding scattered construction and linear and unplanned expansion of t...
As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mú... more As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mútuo respeito e interdependência. A presença da água evoluiu de um valor essencialmente material, ligado à sua utilização económica para a sustentação da actividade humana, para um valor imaterial e quase sensorial, onde se sobrevaloriza o apelo da paisagem, as perspectivas sobre o plano de água ribeirinho, as potencialidades de desenvolvimento do lazer e, também, a proximidade da natureza, que o elemento água tão bem representa, num contexto em que a cidade se vai tornando cada vez menos "natural". A relação de integração entre rios e cidades apresenta vários cambiantes que decorrem, em grande medida, do seu mútuo posicionamento geográfico. No âmbito do projecto de investigação "Rio e Cidade: oportunidades para a sustentabilidade urbana" (1ª fase), apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e desenvolvido no CESUR, foram identificados alguns tipos de relação en...
One of the major issues in land-use planning is how to contain urban sprawl. To this effect, plan... more One of the major issues in land-use planning is how to contain urban sprawl. To this effect, plans integrate new regulations and mechanisms that severely limit construction outside urban perimeters and restrict the areas available for expansion within the settlements. Before enforcing these restrictions, a review and correction of existing delimitation of settlements was necessary. The new limits were established through the identification of effectively consolidated urban areas. In the absence of official criteria defining them, this paper presents a methodology establishing the limits of these consolidated areas. Based on the identification, in a Geographical Information System (GIS) of existing buildings, and incorporating the analysis of road network, social facilities, and physiographic constraints (such as floodplains or steep slopes), several criteria were defined so as to delimit the urban settlements. A review of other methodologies is presented as a contextualization of the proposed one, but it is not the focus of the paper to specifically contrast or appreciate them. The study area is the municipality of Tomar, in Central Portugal, a territory with very disperse human occupation. Having achieved an accurate delimitation of the settlements' current extent that reflects the purposes of rational land-use, the settlement delimitation was successfully revised so as to mirror the current occupation. Also, the objectivity and clarity of the adopted criteria, and its applicability to the whole municipality, allowed the methodology to be unanimously well received by the Municipal Government and Parish Councils, even if it deals with a somewhat politically delicate subject.
The Municipal Urbanization Tax (MUT) can be adjusted so as to promote or deter new construction f... more The Municipal Urbanization Tax (MUT) can be adjusted so as to promote or deter new construction for certain land-uses or different areas of a municipality. Tomar (Central Portugal) is characterized by scattered settlement and has experienced construction outside urban perimeters. The historic center of the City of Tomar and the more remote rural areas of the municipality underwent population losses, while a suburban ring around the city grew exponentially. The new calculation formula for the municipality's MUT, presented in the paper, attempts to correct these trends. The new formula innovates in that: it reflects the real costs of infrastructure associated to each different land-use and location in the municipality; it includes an accurate assessment of the municipality's investment in infrastructures, according to their local or municipal scope, and average maintenance costs; it allows for a constant updating of these costs; it corrects the lack of transparency for which the formula it replaces was criticized, namely by making more evident the gap between real cost of investment and the value recovered through taxation; finally it is also easier to calculate than the formula it replaces. Because most municipalities in Portugal charge MUTs well below the effective cost of reinforcing and maintaining infrastructure, the municipal government required that the formula included a mechanism through which to establish a reduction to the total tax, in order not to decrease the municipality's attractiveness to investment. This slightly distorts the MUT's objective assessment of costs and the underlying effort of guaranteeing the long-term economic sustainability of infrastructure investments by the municipality. Individual municipalities are apprehensive as to the possibility of taking the lead in reflecting the real costs of urbanization in their tax instruments, and this situation is unlikely to be resolved without a coordinated collective action.
The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarit... more The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarities in terms of morphology and urban development. A finer analysis of development patterns reveals crucial differences in the extent of shoreline alteration and types of land use that now encroach upon natural estuarine habitat. Through historical map analysis and prior stratigraphic and historical research, we reconstruct in GIS environment the evolution of both estuaries over the last millennia and the relative distribution of different classes of land cover. We also discuss the legal frameworks that accompanied this evolution, and how they have influenced the process of wetland reclamation and landfilling. We compared the legal history and synchronous patterns of development by compiling historical mapping information and resorting to GIS analysis to explore spatial patterns over time. This method was useful in isolating events and decisions that were unique to each of the case studies. The Tagus Estuary has experienced disruption of natural environments for over two millennia. Yet, the State has been able to keep estuarine lowlands under public control, even if vast areas have been transformed into farmland. Public control could allow wetland migration with rising seas and restoration efforts. The San Francisco Bay was affected by several decades of elevated sediment loads in the 19th century, which induced rapid wetland expansion, but virtual cutoff of sediment supply by dams in the 20th century now impairs their ability to accrete. Meanwhile, tidal wetlands were subject to extremely fast and poorly regulated development. Artificially filled and/or drained wetlands were transferred to local governments and private landowners, in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine. The transformation of wetlands into salt ponds, industrial zones and even residential neighborhoods created extensive developed areas at or below sea level, which are vulnerable to even modest rises in sea level. Remaining wetlands are now heavily encroached on their landward side by urban development, which prevents their landward migration. Different legal interpretations of comparable definitions of public trusts and jurisdictions over shorelines may have significant implications for the ability to adapt to sea-level rise.
New challenges in flood risk management are raised by climate change and land-use development. Th... more New challenges in flood risk management are raised by climate change and land-use development. These challenges are particularly complex in estuarine and coastal systems, where different hazard sources interact in a dynamic socioeconomic context. This paper presents an innovative approach to support flood risk management in estuaries. The approach, developed at a local-scale basis, is applied in the case study of the Tagus estuary (Portugal). The methodology is supported by the regional framing of the study area and integrates hazard, exposed elements, territorial vulnerability and risk assessments
Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development,... more Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development, carrying the ability to create lasting physical, political, social, and economic legacies. Waterfront redevelopment has become a primary mechanism for revitalizing urban spaces, especially through brownfield requalification, and the Olympics have not been indifferent to this trend. Several recent editions have engaged in the rehabilitation of urban waterfronts. To analyze common mistakes that may impair the quality of these interventions, we apply a revised version of a binary evaluation tool to nine such Olympic Waterfronts, starting with Barcelona 1992, assessing their contexts, budgets, programs, plans, and environmental integration. The results show that the Olympic Waterfront can drastically change the image of the city, greatly contributing to the perceived success of the event’s legacy and creating new urban centralities. However, the inadequate management in the planning, delivery and, especially, legacy stages of the event can compromise this “Olympic Effect”. The test application of the evaluation tool proved successful in the context of mega-event planning and post-event transformation. It could potentially be useful in informing present and future decision-making regarding waterfront regeneration projects by highlighting pressure-points that, if not addressed, may hinder the future success of the interventions.
Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to ... more Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to increasing the competitiveness, efficiency, and equity thereof. We use a theoretical structure that combines the history of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with three conceptual elements: shift from government to governance; paradigms of metropolitan governance; and factors specific to metropolitan areas. Through these, we reveal the complex institutional architecture at play in this territory. Finally, we explore to what extent these relate with legal framework and development pressures, and how the latter frequently seem to be conditioned by conjunctural impulses and not by a long-term vision.-KEYWORDS Metropolitan governance models, metropolitan institutional arrangement, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, values of power, metropolitan cooperation CONTACT Jorge Gonçalves
We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving ri... more We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving riverfront through the succession of shifting attitudes towards the river. From the early river-as-god, provider and destroyer, onto the harnessing of the river for economy and protection, through cycles of detruction and neglect, we analyse the shifts in uses, scale and structure of the waterfronts leading up to what we consider to be an era of opportunity, marked by a renewed awareness of the river's importance as a natural ecosystem corridor and as a major component of any riverine city's green structure.
Pdf available in open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4079
Urban riverfront inter... more Pdf available in open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4079 Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers’ natural connectivity.
San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroach... more San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems.
“Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection provided by levees.
We analyzed the region’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two examples where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards and practices or require uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.
Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from central-government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
PhD Dissertation in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Aug 14, 2015
Wide estuaries are natural magnets for urban development. Several of the World’s major cities dev... more Wide estuaries are natural magnets for urban development. Several of the World’s major cities developed around estuaries, but at the same time encroached upon some of the most complex and vital ecosystems. Sea-level rise threatens to submerge both rare wetland habitat and essential urban areas and infrastructure. This prospect discloses the urgency of balancing urban development and environmental protection in Metropolitan Estuaries. The hard task of dealing with this threat may provide the opportunity to promote an integrated approach to regional planning, where the necessary adaptation of cities to sea-level rise could equally promote the preservation, or even the enhancement, of wetland habitat. The two case study metropolitan estuaries, San Francisco Bay (California, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal), share striking similarities in terms of morphology. They both host large metropolitan areas and important wetland ecosystems. Nevertheless, a finer analysis of development patterns reveals crucial differences in the extent of shoreline alteration and types of land use that now encroach upon natural estuarine habitat. The comparative study of both estuaries provides mutually beneficial insights on the shortcomings of each system, and helps identify opportunities to enhance coastal zone management, adaptive governance and environmental planning efforts. The evolution of both estuaries throughout the Holocene is reconstructed, with special emphasis on the process of anthropogenic alteration. While this impact has been significant and continuous in the Tagus Estuary for over two millennia, large scale disturbance of the San Francisco Bay was concentrated in the last two centuries. The legal frameworks that have guided, with varying degrees of effectiveness, the process of wetland reclamation and landfilling share a common ancestry in the Roman Law. These have evolved continuously in Lisbon and the State has upheld with relative success the provision to keep estuarine lowlands in public control, even as they were steadily transformed to farmland. In San Francisco, a period of deep disturbances over the Sacramento River’s hydrology was coupled with extremely fast and under regulated development of lowlands. During a short period, the property of these lands, which would theoretically fall within the Public Trust, was transferred to local governments and private landowners, which led to their steady transformation onto salt ponds, industrial zones and even residential neighborhoods. As a consequence, the Bay Area now has extensive developed areas at very low elevations, vulnerable to low levels of sea-level rise, and remaining wetlands are now heavily encroached upon by urban development. Around the Tagus Estuary, while most original wetlands have long been drained for farmland, the remaining patches are adjacent to non-urban land uses, which could facilitate future efforts of restoration or allow wetland migration with rising seas. A comparative modelling of sea-level rise flooding over existing land uses reveals that, while around the Tagus Estuary most reclaimed lowlands are reserved for farmland and urban development over landfill is limited, the extent of developed urban areas at very low elevations is much greater around the SF Bay, which renders the region more vulnerable to early stages of SLR. Nonetheless, both cities have begun to incorporate climate adaptation onto their main environmental planning blueprints, for which they can be seen as early adopters of local sea-level rise adaptation strategies. Through interviews with stakeholders and document analysis, the planning and decision-making exercises that led to the recent elaboration of the first Tagus Estuary Management Plan, and the Bay Plan Climate Change Amendment, are analyzed and discussed. Lisbon benefits from a very simple, top-down, planning structure, with a handful of public entities directly communicating and articulating stakes and approaches along the planning process. A lack of transparency as to some specific interventions and a still somewhat incipient tradition of public participation have contributed to protract the Plan’s final approval. The Bay Area institutional framework is well-used to collaborative planning efforts, which are usually successful in articulating conflicting interests, but are prone to limitations derived from narrow, and often difficult to expand, mandates for environmental planning agencies, within an extremely complex, multi-level, governance structure involving three levels of government and very active interest groups. While broad mitigation/adaptation strategies are decided at the National or State levels, the actual implementation of SLR adaptation measures often require a great deal of involvement of local actors. Given that it is at this juncture that adaptation takes a concrete spatial expression, this is also the moment when land-use conflicts arise. Local governments are left with much of the burden of mediating competing interests, between urban development, environmental protection, and other social demands. In some instances, the prospect of shoreline development may be very attractive for both property owners/developers and local governments, given the potential land value and economic benefits, but these have to be weighed against the medium-/long-term costs of defending these assets from rising sea-levels. In San Francisco Bay, there is an increasing awareness of the challenges posed by SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. The several projects where different federal and state agencies are partnered with local governments highlight the benefits of a more frank and regular communication between public actors. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance. Whereas the articulation of public actors is often easy to address by increasing communication and coordination, conflicts involving private landowners and developers may be much complicated by the threat of litigation. The lack of a strong legal backing to public environmental protection mandates is a major obstacle to shoreline planning around the Bay and elsewhere, and this is highlighted by the extreme caution of some public agencies in upholding their jurisdictions over private property. Environmental NGOs have, in the case of California, a big role to play, as they are able to resort to the same legal and lobbying instruments as the developers, and may help even-out the field between public stakeholders with limited legal and economic resources, and powerful private developers with nothing to lose. There is seemingly a sense of urgency in pushing for the development of shoreline properties, as public opposition to development on locations exposed to SLR is most likely to increase in the coming decades. At the same time, NGOs and public agencies are aware of the stress wetlands will be under as the rates of SLR increase towards the end of the century. “Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees.
Cities and rivers have always been closely associated throughout history; Portugal’s urban networ... more Cities and rivers have always been closely associated throughout history; Portugal’s urban network developed in close correlation with the river system, the result of cross-influences from very distinct cultures. To this day, the vast majority of Portuguese urban centres are located by rivers.
Up until recently, cities depended on rivers as a source of water for domestic use, agriculture and industry. Waterways were crucial for trade between cities. The demise of their role in the regular functioning of the city, linked to the decay of their economic importance, led to a tipping of the balance between human stakes and those for environmental protection, with the prevalence of the first.
The ever present menace of urban flooding, as well as the inefficiency in sewage treatment and collection, led on occasion to the adoption of “hard” hydraulic solutions, with grave impact over the natural balance of the river corridors. Neglect often ensued, and led to a progressive estrangement of the riverside populations and “their” rivers.
A new paradigm is now beginning to emerge, concerning the association of rivers and cities. It bases itself on the search for new solutions, that allow for an increased closeness between these populations and the river, incorporating both the need for flood prevention and protection and the desired improvement of urban environmental sustainability.
This new approach, more holistic and multidisciplinary, may lead to an enhanced integration of city and river, through the improvement of the system of parks and public spaces, and the reestablishment of the urban ecological network.
Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to ... more Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to increasing the competitiveness, efficiency, and equity thereof. We use a theoretical structure that combines the history of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with three conceptual elements: shift from government to governance; paradigms of metropolitan governance; and factors specific to metropolitan areas. Through these, we reveal the complex institutional architecture at play in this territory. Finally, we explore to what extent these relate with legal framework and development pressures, and how the latter frequently seem to be conditioned by conjunctural impulses and not by a long-term vision.-KEYWORDS Metropolitan governance models, metropolitan institutional arrangement, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, values of power, metropolitan cooperation CONTACT Jorge Gonçalves
Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development,... more Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development, carrying the ability to create lasting physical, political, social, and economic legacies. Waterfront redevelopment has become a primary mechanism for revitalizing urban spaces, especially through brownfield requalification, and the Olympics have not been indifferent to this trend. Several recent editions have engaged in the rehabilitation of urban waterfronts. To analyze common mistakes that may impair the quality of these interventions, we apply a revised version of a binary evaluation tool to nine such Olympic Waterfronts, starting with Barcelona 1992, assessing their contexts, budgets, programs, plans, and environmental integration. The results show that the Olympic Waterfront can drastically change the image of the city, greatly contributing to the perceived success of the event’s legacy and creating new urban centralities. However, the inadequate management in the planning, delive...
Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly al... more Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river va...
San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroach... more San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea-level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems. "Green", or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees. We analyzed the Bay's environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two cases where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards & practices or to make uneasy choices between conflicting public interests. Among the region's stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and cu... more By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and culture along and across rivers, recognizing longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity, much as has been described for other rivers for hydrology and ecology. We focus on rivers as they pass through cities, and the relationships between these rivers and city dwellers. Historically, the most important longitudinal connectivity function of rivers was their role as major transport routes and the simplification of formerly complex, irregular banks and beds, into straight, uniform shipping channels has resulted in a loss of lateral and vertical connectivity, notably the quotidian uses such as fishing, washing clothes, water supply, swimming and other recreation. The scale of the river itself, and its scale in comparison to the scale of the city, largely determine the river"s social function and the degree to which it influences city form. River width influences the perception of "closeness" of the other bank, ease of bridging the river, influence of the river on the city"s street pattern, and type of waterfront uses that occur. Up to 15m wide, people can converse, whereas across rivers ~50 to ~200m wide, people are not recognizable but still clearly visible, instilling the banks with a "lively" atmosphere. At widths over ~200m, people blur, moving vehicles and trees branches shaking in wind may still provide some dynamic elements to an otherwise static landscape composed of building facades. In exceptionally wide rivers, the city on the opposite bank is little more than a skyline, which often becomes a signature and symbol of regional identity. In contemplating how people use rivers, we can define a range of human activities in relation to height above the water (i.e., instream to banktop), a vertical dimension of human connectivity with rivers. Many uses occur on the top of the bank, such as quiet contemplation, walking, or cycling along a riverside trail, while others depend on contact with the water itself, such as wading, diving, and canoeing (which presupposes adequate water quality). Many of these relationships are illustrated by the challenge of reconnecting Cairo with the Nile.
The municipality of Tomar presents a very scattered human occupation of the territory. The permis... more The municipality of Tomar presents a very scattered human occupation of the territory. The permissive development laws for “rural” land, as stated by the Municipal Land-use Plan (PDM) of 1994, have in fact contributed to heighten this form of occupation. During the current revision of the PDM, the intention of strengthening and consolidating existing settlements has been repeatedly stated, instead of the definition of over-dimensioned expansion areas and construction in “rural” land, avoiding, whenever possible the linear extension along the roads. This is, in fact, one of the main concerns of the Regional Plan for the “Oeste e Vale do Tejo” (PROT-OVT), a planning instrument of higher hierarchy, to which the PDM must conform. In the planning norms, this document emphasizes the need for the PDM to establish models of land-use that promote the concentration of buildings in the delimited urban or rural settlements, avoiding scattered construction and linear and unplanned expansion of t...
As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mú... more As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mútuo respeito e interdependência. A presença da água evoluiu de um valor essencialmente material, ligado à sua utilização económica para a sustentação da actividade humana, para um valor imaterial e quase sensorial, onde se sobrevaloriza o apelo da paisagem, as perspectivas sobre o plano de água ribeirinho, as potencialidades de desenvolvimento do lazer e, também, a proximidade da natureza, que o elemento água tão bem representa, num contexto em que a cidade se vai tornando cada vez menos "natural". A relação de integração entre rios e cidades apresenta vários cambiantes que decorrem, em grande medida, do seu mútuo posicionamento geográfico. No âmbito do projecto de investigação "Rio e Cidade: oportunidades para a sustentabilidade urbana" (1ª fase), apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e desenvolvido no CESUR, foram identificados alguns tipos de relação en...
One of the major issues in land-use planning is how to contain urban sprawl. To this effect, plan... more One of the major issues in land-use planning is how to contain urban sprawl. To this effect, plans integrate new regulations and mechanisms that severely limit construction outside urban perimeters and restrict the areas available for expansion within the settlements. Before enforcing these restrictions, a review and correction of existing delimitation of settlements was necessary. The new limits were established through the identification of effectively consolidated urban areas. In the absence of official criteria defining them, this paper presents a methodology establishing the limits of these consolidated areas. Based on the identification, in a Geographical Information System (GIS) of existing buildings, and incorporating the analysis of road network, social facilities, and physiographic constraints (such as floodplains or steep slopes), several criteria were defined so as to delimit the urban settlements. A review of other methodologies is presented as a contextualization of the proposed one, but it is not the focus of the paper to specifically contrast or appreciate them. The study area is the municipality of Tomar, in Central Portugal, a territory with very disperse human occupation. Having achieved an accurate delimitation of the settlements' current extent that reflects the purposes of rational land-use, the settlement delimitation was successfully revised so as to mirror the current occupation. Also, the objectivity and clarity of the adopted criteria, and its applicability to the whole municipality, allowed the methodology to be unanimously well received by the Municipal Government and Parish Councils, even if it deals with a somewhat politically delicate subject.
The Municipal Urbanization Tax (MUT) can be adjusted so as to promote or deter new construction f... more The Municipal Urbanization Tax (MUT) can be adjusted so as to promote or deter new construction for certain land-uses or different areas of a municipality. Tomar (Central Portugal) is characterized by scattered settlement and has experienced construction outside urban perimeters. The historic center of the City of Tomar and the more remote rural areas of the municipality underwent population losses, while a suburban ring around the city grew exponentially. The new calculation formula for the municipality's MUT, presented in the paper, attempts to correct these trends. The new formula innovates in that: it reflects the real costs of infrastructure associated to each different land-use and location in the municipality; it includes an accurate assessment of the municipality's investment in infrastructures, according to their local or municipal scope, and average maintenance costs; it allows for a constant updating of these costs; it corrects the lack of transparency for which the formula it replaces was criticized, namely by making more evident the gap between real cost of investment and the value recovered through taxation; finally it is also easier to calculate than the formula it replaces. Because most municipalities in Portugal charge MUTs well below the effective cost of reinforcing and maintaining infrastructure, the municipal government required that the formula included a mechanism through which to establish a reduction to the total tax, in order not to decrease the municipality's attractiveness to investment. This slightly distorts the MUT's objective assessment of costs and the underlying effort of guaranteeing the long-term economic sustainability of infrastructure investments by the municipality. Individual municipalities are apprehensive as to the possibility of taking the lead in reflecting the real costs of urbanization in their tax instruments, and this situation is unlikely to be resolved without a coordinated collective action.
The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarit... more The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarities in terms of morphology and urban development. A finer analysis of development patterns reveals crucial differences in the extent of shoreline alteration and types of land use that now encroach upon natural estuarine habitat. Through historical map analysis and prior stratigraphic and historical research, we reconstruct in GIS environment the evolution of both estuaries over the last millennia and the relative distribution of different classes of land cover. We also discuss the legal frameworks that accompanied this evolution, and how they have influenced the process of wetland reclamation and landfilling. We compared the legal history and synchronous patterns of development by compiling historical mapping information and resorting to GIS analysis to explore spatial patterns over time. This method was useful in isolating events and decisions that were unique to each of the case studies. The Tagus Estuary has experienced disruption of natural environments for over two millennia. Yet, the State has been able to keep estuarine lowlands under public control, even if vast areas have been transformed into farmland. Public control could allow wetland migration with rising seas and restoration efforts. The San Francisco Bay was affected by several decades of elevated sediment loads in the 19th century, which induced rapid wetland expansion, but virtual cutoff of sediment supply by dams in the 20th century now impairs their ability to accrete. Meanwhile, tidal wetlands were subject to extremely fast and poorly regulated development. Artificially filled and/or drained wetlands were transferred to local governments and private landowners, in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine. The transformation of wetlands into salt ponds, industrial zones and even residential neighborhoods created extensive developed areas at or below sea level, which are vulnerable to even modest rises in sea level. Remaining wetlands are now heavily encroached on their landward side by urban development, which prevents their landward migration. Different legal interpretations of comparable definitions of public trusts and jurisdictions over shorelines may have significant implications for the ability to adapt to sea-level rise.
New challenges in flood risk management are raised by climate change and land-use development. Th... more New challenges in flood risk management are raised by climate change and land-use development. These challenges are particularly complex in estuarine and coastal systems, where different hazard sources interact in a dynamic socioeconomic context. This paper presents an innovative approach to support flood risk management in estuaries. The approach, developed at a local-scale basis, is applied in the case study of the Tagus estuary (Portugal). The methodology is supported by the regional framing of the study area and integrates hazard, exposed elements, territorial vulnerability and risk assessments
Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development,... more Mega-events such as the Olympic Games are powerful tools for city-branding and urban development, carrying the ability to create lasting physical, political, social, and economic legacies. Waterfront redevelopment has become a primary mechanism for revitalizing urban spaces, especially through brownfield requalification, and the Olympics have not been indifferent to this trend. Several recent editions have engaged in the rehabilitation of urban waterfronts. To analyze common mistakes that may impair the quality of these interventions, we apply a revised version of a binary evaluation tool to nine such Olympic Waterfronts, starting with Barcelona 1992, assessing their contexts, budgets, programs, plans, and environmental integration. The results show that the Olympic Waterfront can drastically change the image of the city, greatly contributing to the perceived success of the event’s legacy and creating new urban centralities. However, the inadequate management in the planning, delivery and, especially, legacy stages of the event can compromise this “Olympic Effect”. The test application of the evaluation tool proved successful in the context of mega-event planning and post-event transformation. It could potentially be useful in informing present and future decision-making regarding waterfront regeneration projects by highlighting pressure-points that, if not addressed, may hinder the future success of the interventions.
Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to ... more Analyzing metropolitan governance is a way of understanding the changes that have taken place to increasing the competitiveness, efficiency, and equity thereof. We use a theoretical structure that combines the history of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area with three conceptual elements: shift from government to governance; paradigms of metropolitan governance; and factors specific to metropolitan areas. Through these, we reveal the complex institutional architecture at play in this territory. Finally, we explore to what extent these relate with legal framework and development pressures, and how the latter frequently seem to be conditioned by conjunctural impulses and not by a long-term vision.-KEYWORDS Metropolitan governance models, metropolitan institutional arrangement, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, values of power, metropolitan cooperation CONTACT Jorge Gonçalves
We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving ri... more We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving riverfront through the succession of shifting attitudes towards the river. From the early river-as-god, provider and destroyer, onto the harnessing of the river for economy and protection, through cycles of detruction and neglect, we analyse the shifts in uses, scale and structure of the waterfronts leading up to what we consider to be an era of opportunity, marked by a renewed awareness of the river's importance as a natural ecosystem corridor and as a major component of any riverine city's green structure.
Pdf available in open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4079
Urban riverfront inter... more Pdf available in open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4079 Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers’ natural connectivity.
San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroach... more San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems.
“Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection provided by levees.
We analyzed the region’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two examples where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards and practices or require uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.
Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from central-government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarit... more The San Francisco Bay (CA, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal) share striking similarities in terms of morphology and urban development. A finer analysis of development patterns reveals crucial differences in the extent of shoreline alteration and types of land use that now encroach upon natural estuarine habitat. Through historical map analysis and prior stratigraphic and historical research, we reconstruct in GIS environment the evolution of both estuaries over the last millennia and the relative distribution of different classes of land cover. We also discuss the legal frameworks that accompanied this evolution, and how they have influenced the process of wetland reclamation and landfilling. We compared the legal history and synchronous patterns of development by compiling historical mapping information and resorting to GIS analysis to explore spatial patterns over time. This method was useful in isolating events and decisions that were unique to each of the case studies. The Tagus Estuary has experienced disruption of natural environments for over two millennia. Yet, the State has been able to keep estuarine lowlands under public control, even if vast areas have been transformed into farmland. Public control could allow wetland migration with rising seas and restoration efforts. The San Francisco Bay was affected by several decades of elevated sediment loads in the 19th century, which induced rapid wetland expansion, but virtual cutoff of sediment supply by dams in the 20th century now impairs their ability to accrete. Meanwhile, tidal wetlands were subject to extremely fast and poorly regulated development. Artificially filled and/or drained wetlands were transferred to local governments and private landowners, in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine. The transformation of wetlands into salt ponds, industrial zones and even residential neighborhoods created extensive developed areas at or below sea level, which are vulnerable to even modest rises in sea level. Remaining wetlands are now heavily encroached on their landward side by urban development, which prevents their landward migration. Different legal interpretations of comparable definitions of public trusts and jurisdictions over shorelines may have significant implications for the ability to adapt to sea-level rise.
Connectivity in Geomorphology from Binghamton 2016, Jan 15, 2017
By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and cu... more By social connectivity we refer to the communication and movement of people, goods, ideas, and culture along and across rivers, recognizing longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity, much as has been described for other rivers for hydrology and ecology. We focus on rivers as they pass through cities, and the relationships between these rivers and city dwellers. Historically, the most important longitudinal connectivity function of rivers was their role as major transport routes and the simplification of formerly complex, irregular banks and beds, into straight, uniform shipping channels has resulted in a loss of lateral and vertical connectivity, notably the quotidian uses such as fishing, washing clothes, water supply, swimming and other recreation.
The scale of the river itself, and its scale in comparison to the scale of the city, largely determine the river's social function and the degree to which it influences city form. River width affects the perception of ‘closeness’ of the other bank, ease of bridging the river, influence of the river on the city's street pattern, and type of waterfront uses that occur. Up to 15 m wide, people can converse, whereas across rivers ~ 50 to ~ 200 m wide, people are not recognizable but still clearly visible, instilling the banks with a ‘lively’ atmosphere. At widths over ~ 200 m, people blur, yet moving vehicles and trees branches shaking in wind may still provide some dynamic elements to an otherwise static landscape composed of building facades. In exceptionally wide rivers, the city on the opposite bank is little more than a skyline, which often becomes a signature and symbol of regional identity.
In contemplating how people use rivers, we can define a range of human activities in relation to height above the water (i.e., instream to banktop), a vertical dimension of human connectivity with rivers. Many uses occur on the top of the bank, such as quiet contemplation, walking, or cycling along a riverside trail, while others depend on contact with the water itself, such as wading, diving, and canoeing (which presupposes adequate water quality). Many of these relationships are illustrated by the challenge of reconnecting Cairo with the Nile.
3nd International Conference I.S. Rivers – Integrative Sciences and Sustainable Development of Rivers (IS Rivers 2018), Lyon, France
A poorly designed riverfront intervention typically fails on several levels: a bad program, with ... more A poorly designed riverfront intervention typically fails on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. Urban riverfront interventions may be improved in the future if, when deciding what to do with our urban riverfronts, we learn from past mistakes. This may be as important (or perhaps more) as observing what worked. The successful element in another city may not be repeatable, as the context and opportunity was very specific to that one city. Yet, recognizing what didn't work elsewhere, the causes for failure, may provide us with the clues we need on how to improve our own projects. Knowing how to avoid oversizing, overspending, inadequately planning, failing to attract diverse publics and uses or fail to provide ecological benefits will, paradoxically, provide us with an excellent framework on how to create a better, successful, intervention. To get it right, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers' natural connectivity.
Traditional planning relies on a cycle of plan formulation/implementation/revision to keep planni... more Traditional planning relies on a cycle of plan formulation/implementation/revision to keep planning instruments up-to-date and more or less effective in face of evolving planning contexts. The inability of static physical plans to respond to changes in the planning context (demographic changes, demand in real-estate, facilities or infrastructures) has been the subject of a long line of inquiry in planning theory. While frequent revisions of plans may help increase the plan’s adherence to a shifting reality, in essence, a plan becomes increasingly obsolete from the moment it is crystalized in a fixed regulation and maps. Traditional development control tools (zoning, by-laws, incentives, taxes and building restrictions) usually require a reasonable assessment of the outcomes from the onset. As a response, several solutions have been proposed that allow the plan to remain as suited as possible to an evolving planning context, such as flexible or scenario planning. Yet, these solutions are often discouraged by current legal frameworks. We take as a case-study planning in the context of accelerating sea-level rise (SLR), which introduces a new dimension of variability which is yet to be adequately addressed by planning theory and, especially, practice. This phenomenon cannot be planned-out or zoned-out, it will occur regardless of any decisions taken at the local level, and represents a threat to most coastal urban settings, as infrastructure and urban development were not designed to face it. In this communication, we discuss how to set-up a planning framework especially suited to address contexts of extreme uncertainty, taking as an example coastal areas experiencing accelerating SLR. This alternative planning framework builds on a number of earlier sources on adaptive and flexible planning, and is aimed at greater applicability from a practitioner’s perspective. It focuses on the success of the process, and not in achieving a static outcome. It requires a continuous questioning of whether the initial goals are (still) achievable. At any point, the trajectory can be adjusted, as long as the adjustment is supported by results of an ongoing performance assessment. The framework presumes that there is no single, perfect solution to a/the problem, but a number of solutions that can be applied, abandoned or combined throughout the process, as long as they are still beneficial in adjusting the trajectory so as to best achieve the desired outcomes. For this to work, the plan should be seen as a combination of document, process, and a platform facilitating stakeholder interaction. A first step is to build a roadmap, setting out major goals/objectives that the plan should/must achieve as a measure of success. The outline of this roadmap should be clear, well-structured, simple, and focused on establishing clear measures of performance, rather than static solutions. The process management should be agile/flexible and quick to adapt to changes to the system, or when monitoring identifies a divergence that may compromise the plan’s overall success. As well as a decision-support tool, developed in close interaction with decision-makers and coordinating planning staff, the plan should also include/set out a platform for participation, where frequent meetings between stakeholders (naturally including individual citizens and NGOs), scientists, and planners can inform, help improve, and allow cross-breeding of solutions implemented by multiple actors.
almost every single stage of the human journey, and heavily implicated in the process of human se... more almost every single stage of the human journey, and heavily implicated in the process of human settlement. The city was born "In between rivers" (Mesopotamia) and, throughout history, most cities tended to be founded about or near rivers, with notable events along the river course chosen for location, such as wedges on the meeting of two rivers, sharp bends, high-points overlooking the river, islands or on the river mouth (Kostof, 1992: 39). This is explained in great part by the fact that both agricultural and industrial activities were, up until very recently, heavily dependent on a close and ever-available water source. Trading also relied on waterways in vast areas of both Western and Eastern civilizations, and so remained throughout most periods in history, only to loose part of this importance after the Industrial Revolution. The emergence of environmental issues and urban sustainability has highlighted new themes for debate: water quality improvement, waterfront reh...
Cities which have gone through the long period of integration in the ex-Soviet Union naturally in... more Cities which have gone through the long period of integration in the ex-Soviet Union naturally incorporated a set of principles that are now under pressure. It's in this context that we review the central question of the relationship between river and city. At present, territorial planning, as a single system of state spatial planning, is highly unstructured and has very little practical influence, with several urban planning decisions being made with little regard for formal urban planning agencies. One of the key issues in the capital city, Tbilisi, is the lack of green/recreational zones, which is also expressed in the loss of public space along the urban riverfront. Undermanaged growth of post-soviet city, expiration of the term of the last general plan, and disregard for historical traditions of city planning resulted in an abnormal and complex problem of interplay between Tbilisi and River Kura. The river has been, in the last few decades, striped of its architectural-planning significance. Interrelation between Tbilisi city and the River Kura constitutes a complex and challenging urban problem but their transformation is related also with political aims. Kura, as an essential active element of the landscape, is being used to influence the city's planning character and as political instrument. This presentation highlights, through an overview of some relevant examples from Tbilisi of planning and design, how the interface zones between river and surrounding plots of land have been transformed to increase urban-river connectivity. Yet, this transformations result also in the emergence of urban projects that symbolize more political and economic power that the aspiration of the people to appropriate public spaces. RESUMO As cidades dos territórios que integravam a União Soviética incorporaram naturalmente um conjunto de princípios que estão agora sobre enorme pressão. No caso particular da Georgia os primeiros anos de independência trouxeram dificuldades sociais e económicas que só no início do deste século foram sendo ultrapassadas. Após um período de inoperância de sistemas formais de planeamento urbano, o País procura agora encontrar soluções de planeamento urbano mais próximas da realidade europeia e mais coerente com as novas condições económicas políticas. Sob esta perspetiva, esta apresentação questiona as mudanças urbanas utilizando como referencial as transformações na frente ribeirinha, projetadas e em curso, em Tiblisi.
As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mú... more As cidades e os rios sempre desenvolveram ao longo da história uma relação de proximidade e de mútuo respeito e interdependência. A presença da água evoluiu de um valor essencialmente material, ligado à sua utilização económica para a sustentação da actividade humana, para um valor imaterial e quase sensorial, onde se sobrevaloriza o apelo da paisagem, as perspectivas sobre o plano de água ribeirinho, as potencialidades de desenvolvimento do lazer e, também, a proximidade da natureza, que o elemento água tão bem representa, num contexto em que a cidade se vai tornando cada vez menos "natural".
A relação de integração entre rios e cidades apresenta vários cambiantes que decorrem, em grande medida, do seu mútuo posicionamento geográfico. No âmbito do projecto de investigação "Rio e Cidade: oportunidades para a sustentabilidade urbana" (1ª fase), apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e desenvolvido no CESUR, foram identificados alguns tipos de relação envolvendo um universo de 75 cidades com frentes de rio em Portugal Continental: cidades com rio diametral, assimétrica, tangencial; cidades de estuário; cidades de foz; cidades de curso médio; cidades de cunha.
É nas frentes de água em cidades com rio, entendidas como elementos de interface entre o sistema rio e o sistema urbano, que frequentemente se protagonizam os vários dilemas que se colocam ao desenvolvimento sustentável das cidades: o natural e o artificial, o rio como barreira ou elemento integrador, homogeneização ou defesa da complexidade, controlo ou adaptação, etc.
Revisitando a "Pattern Language" de Christopher Alexander e outros autores determinantes na compreensão da complexidade e da sustentabilidade urbana, propõem-se alguns princípios que podem promover em boa relação de integração entre cidades e rios e defender a coerência das intervenções nas suas frentes.
We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving ri... more We trace the relationship between cities and rivers throughout history, following the evolving riverfront through the succession of shifting attitudes towards the river. From the early river-as-god, provider and destroyer, onto the harnessing of the river for economy and protection, through cycles of destruction and neglect, we analyse the shifts in uses, scale and structure of the waterfronts leading up to what we consider to be an era of opportunity, marked by a renewed awareness of the river's importance as a natural ecosystem corridor and as a major component of any riverine city's green structure.
Book chapter in "The Portuguese Republic at One Hundred", Edited by Richard Herr and António Cost... more Book chapter in "The Portuguese Republic at One Hundred", Edited by Richard Herr and António Costa Pinto, published by the Portuguese Studies Program - Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2012. ISBN: 9780981933627, pp. 209-232.
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Thesis by Pedro J Pinto
Up until recently, cities depended on rivers as a source of water for domestic use, agriculture and industry. Waterways were crucial for trade between cities. The demise of their role in the regular functioning of the city, linked to the decay of their economic importance, led to a tipping of the balance between human stakes and those for environmental protection, with the prevalence of the first.
The ever present menace of urban flooding, as well as the inefficiency in sewage treatment and collection, led on occasion to the adoption of “hard” hydraulic solutions, with grave impact over the natural balance of the river corridors. Neglect often ensued, and led to a progressive estrangement of the riverside populations and “their” rivers.
A new paradigm is now beginning to emerge, concerning the association of rivers and cities. It bases itself on the search for new solutions, that allow for an increased closeness between these populations and the river, incorporating both the need for flood prevention and protection and the desired improvement of urban environmental sustainability.
This new approach, more holistic and multidisciplinary, may lead to an enhanced integration of city and river, through the improvement of the system of parks and public spaces, and the reestablishment of the urban ecological network.
Papers by Pedro J Pinto
Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers’ natural connectivity.
“Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection provided by levees.
We analyzed the region’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two examples where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards and practices or require uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.
Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from central-government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
Up until recently, cities depended on rivers as a source of water for domestic use, agriculture and industry. Waterways were crucial for trade between cities. The demise of their role in the regular functioning of the city, linked to the decay of their economic importance, led to a tipping of the balance between human stakes and those for environmental protection, with the prevalence of the first.
The ever present menace of urban flooding, as well as the inefficiency in sewage treatment and collection, led on occasion to the adoption of “hard” hydraulic solutions, with grave impact over the natural balance of the river corridors. Neglect often ensued, and led to a progressive estrangement of the riverside populations and “their” rivers.
A new paradigm is now beginning to emerge, concerning the association of rivers and cities. It bases itself on the search for new solutions, that allow for an increased closeness between these populations and the river, incorporating both the need for flood prevention and protection and the desired improvement of urban environmental sustainability.
This new approach, more holistic and multidisciplinary, may lead to an enhanced integration of city and river, through the improvement of the system of parks and public spaces, and the reestablishment of the urban ecological network.
Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers’ natural connectivity.
“Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection provided by levees.
We analyzed the region’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two examples where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards and practices or require uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.
Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from central-government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.
The scale of the river itself, and its scale in comparison to the scale of the city, largely determine the river's social function and the degree to which it influences city form. River width affects the perception of ‘closeness’ of the other bank, ease of bridging the river, influence of the river on the city's street pattern, and type of waterfront uses that occur. Up to 15 m wide, people can converse, whereas across rivers ~ 50 to ~ 200 m wide, people are not recognizable but still clearly visible, instilling the banks with a ‘lively’ atmosphere. At widths over ~ 200 m, people blur, yet moving vehicles and trees branches shaking in wind may still provide some dynamic elements to an otherwise static landscape composed of building facades. In exceptionally wide rivers, the city on the opposite bank is little more than a skyline, which often becomes a signature and symbol of regional identity.
In contemplating how people use rivers, we can define a range of human activities in relation to height above the water (i.e., instream to banktop), a vertical dimension of human connectivity with rivers. Many uses occur on the top of the bank, such as quiet contemplation, walking, or cycling along a riverside trail, while others depend on contact with the water itself, such as wading, diving, and canoeing (which presupposes adequate water quality). Many of these relationships are illustrated by the challenge of reconnecting Cairo with the Nile.
Traditional development control tools (zoning, by-laws, incentives, taxes and building restrictions) usually require a reasonable assessment of the outcomes from the onset. As a response, several solutions have been proposed that allow the plan to remain as suited as possible to an evolving planning context, such as flexible or scenario planning. Yet, these solutions are often discouraged by current legal frameworks.
We take as a case-study planning in the context of accelerating sea-level rise (SLR), which introduces a new dimension of variability which is yet to be adequately addressed by planning theory and, especially, practice. This phenomenon cannot be planned-out or zoned-out, it will occur regardless of any decisions taken at the local level, and represents a threat to most coastal urban settings, as infrastructure and urban development were not designed to face it.
In this communication, we discuss how to set-up a planning framework especially suited to address contexts of extreme uncertainty, taking as an example coastal areas experiencing accelerating SLR. This alternative planning framework builds on a number of earlier sources on adaptive and flexible planning, and is aimed at greater applicability from a practitioner’s perspective. It focuses on the success of the process, and not in achieving a static outcome. It requires a continuous questioning of whether the initial goals are (still) achievable. At any point, the trajectory can be adjusted, as long as the adjustment is supported by results of an ongoing performance assessment.
The framework presumes that there is no single, perfect solution to a/the problem, but a number of solutions that can be applied, abandoned or combined throughout the process, as long as they are still beneficial in adjusting the trajectory so as to best achieve the desired outcomes. For this to work, the plan should be seen as a combination of document, process, and a platform facilitating stakeholder interaction.
A first step is to build a roadmap, setting out major goals/objectives that the plan should/must achieve as a measure of success. The outline of this roadmap should be clear, well-structured, simple, and focused on establishing clear measures of performance, rather than static solutions. The process management should be agile/flexible and quick to adapt to changes to the system, or when monitoring identifies a divergence that may compromise the plan’s overall success.
As well as a decision-support tool, developed in close interaction with decision-makers and coordinating planning staff, the plan should also include/set out a platform for participation, where frequent meetings between stakeholders (naturally including individual citizens and NGOs), scientists, and planners can inform, help improve, and allow cross-breeding of solutions implemented by multiple actors.
A relação de integração entre rios e cidades apresenta vários cambiantes que decorrem, em grande medida, do seu mútuo posicionamento geográfico. No âmbito do projecto de investigação "Rio e Cidade: oportunidades para a sustentabilidade urbana" (1ª fase), apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e desenvolvido no CESUR, foram identificados alguns tipos de relação envolvendo um universo de 75 cidades com frentes de rio em Portugal Continental: cidades com rio diametral, assimétrica, tangencial; cidades de estuário; cidades de foz; cidades de curso médio; cidades de cunha.
É nas frentes de água em cidades com rio, entendidas como elementos de interface entre o sistema rio e o sistema urbano, que frequentemente se protagonizam os vários dilemas que se colocam ao desenvolvimento sustentável das cidades: o natural e o artificial, o rio como barreira ou elemento integrador, homogeneização ou defesa da complexidade, controlo ou adaptação, etc.
Revisitando a "Pattern Language" de Christopher Alexander e outros autores determinantes na compreensão da complexidade e da sustentabilidade urbana, propõem-se alguns princípios que podem promover em boa relação de integração entre cidades e rios e defender a coerência das intervenções nas suas frentes.