Resilient IBZ

2019

Collaboration w/ Niharika Shekhawat and Minjung Lee

Columbia GSAPP

Brooklyn, New York. USA

2.5 mile shoreline

The state of New York is the largest regional economy in the United States; manufacturing is a major contributor to its growth. Currently, the city of New York has twenty-one Industrial Business Zones. Eighteen of these are located in waterfront sites. Sunset Park is home to an IBZ. Global warming, sea level rise, and extreme weather conditions threaten the IBZs, their ecosystems, and the prosperity of their communities.

Living shorelines stabilize the shore, reduce erosion and storm damage. They increase the flood storage capacity and strengthen the ecosystems. Hard infrastructure decays, while living shorelines naturally grow stronger over time. Resilient IBZ provides a resiliency framework to protect the waterfront Industrial Business Zones through the lens of ecology, community, and economy.