April 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 45

DYNAMIC
Park Design
Striving for a climateresilient
future: coastal
or otherwise
By Gracie Swansburg
H
Whether they are programmed for
active or passive use, public parks provide
the space and flexibility necessary
to slow and hold floodwaters, address
the urban heat island effect, and
engage the community in an open
dialogue about the solidarity needed
amongst all stakeholders. The best
part of using parks to help solve
our climate crisis is that there
is no singular solution. Our
parks and communities
can remain as distinct
and context-specific
as
the
natural
systems they
exist within.
emmed in by increasing development
needs combined
with outdated or ill-equipped
infrastructure, today's cities
are struggling to manage the impacts of warming
temperatures, sea level rise, and more frequent and
severe storms due to climate change that play an increasing
role in our daily lived experience. Climate-resilient design represents
a dynamic path forward. According to Rethinking the Future,
an organization that promotes excellence in architecture on a global scale,
climate-resilient design " ought to be an integral part of the planning process
in the context of the project's function, purpose, asset type, and site location "
(tinyurl.com/ywm2pd2k). Within the public realm, we can use parks to address
these challenges uniquely on a broad and equitable scale; they are accessible to
all and already weave through our dense urban environments.
To help us see the types of possible
solutions, we can explore recent improvements
at two parks in the Greater
Boston area and discuss lessons learned
across each unique urban environment.
Langone Park and
Puopolo Playground
First, we'll head to the waterfront
and delve into the design at Langone
Park and Puopolo Playground in
Boston's historic North End. Langone
Park stands as one of the oldest
parks in Boston. Most notably, two
acres of today's 4.5-acre park were
the site of the Great Molasses Flood
of 1919 that killed 21 people and injured
150 when 2.3 million gallons
of molasses flooded the area after a
nearby storage tank ruptured.
Nearly 100 years after this disasin
March 2018, another type
ter,
of flooding occurred at Langone
Park. A powerful nor'easter caused
high-tide waters to breach the park's
seawalls, inundating more than onethird
of the park and many of Boston's
downtown districts. The storm
caused the third-highest tide recorded
in city history, with a crest of
close to four feet above the shallowest
park elevations. This major storm
event, combined with a similar storm
that occurred only two months prior,
pushed climate resilience to the forefront
of the city's plans. Overnight,
a simple neighborhood park redesign
project became Boston's first-ever
climate-resilient design effort.
The project team quickly pivoted. A
collaborative group of city staff, design
and engineering consultants, and climate
researchers examined the impact
of sea level rise and storm surge within
the park and at abutting properties.
They evaluated the potential impacts
at the time of design, 2018, as well as
30 and 70 years into the future. The
team evaluated a range of solutions for
their capacity to serve the community's
needs, adapt over time and address
the challenges of climate change.
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45
http://tinyurl.com/ywm2pd2k
April 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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