Adapting to Rising Seas in Boston with Venice-Style Canals

A report released earlier this week by the Urban land Institute Boston/New England chapter "suggests that building canals through the Back Bay neighborhood would help it withstand water levels that could rise as much as 7 feet by 2100," according to an article by Casey Ross.

"Some roads and public alleys, such as Clarendon Street, could be turned into narrow waterways, the report suggests, allowing the neighborhood to absorb the rising sea with clever engineering projects that double as public amenities."

The canal plan is one of a number of solutions proposed by the report, albeit an imaginative one. According to Ross, "[in] addition to considering canals and higher sea walls, the group called on municipalities to discuss ways to raise money to prepare vulnerable areas and alter building and zoning rules to make way for inevitable flooding."

The article is an excellent primer on the expected impacts of sea-level rise on Boston as well as the kind of public benefits that might be delivered by designing and building creative solutions to adapt coastal cities for the coming changes.