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Coastal cities are at the edge of climate change in a few ways, especially for some cities on the US East Coast. This is evident in the sense that people living in coastal cities are putting their lives at greater risk, forcing them to take action and adapt. Some of these cities are also too valuable and we cannot afford not to protect it due to its large population and deeply embedded roots in our history and culture. But as the more grave and pressing matter of climate change prevails, our cities will need to adapt their policies and resilient strategies, which are mainly the responsibility of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local governments, and begin to see their rivers as a living corridor.

Using the Hudson River’s southernmost tributary as a case study, this research will open up opportunities for flood intervention for both social and environmental formations and propose what a potential future city designed by water could hold. The proposal of this arrangement will begin the shift in power to local communities and implement a new way to communicate the matter to the public by adapting through different mediums at different levels that are at play in order to achieve a future desired sustainable state and moderate inequities within the city.

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This proposal allows for us to accommodate the water from rain, river, and sea. We already know the likeliness of certain types of flood water heights, the probability the sea level will rise at a specific time, and what we must protect. All we have to do is accept and plan. Imagine what could happen if we could accommodate water not only on the coasts but throughout the land.

In the regional masterplan, the current zoning must be transformed into zones according to a type of action towards the water: filter, collect, or retain. Some buildings will have to be re-purposed or torn down and relocated at high elevation in order to be able to be more intensely filtered and cause less damage on our waterways. Most the existing structures will have to adapt according to their assigned zone. Most of the structures will stay in flood-zones but learn how to coexist and manage regular floods.