To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Ian McHarg’s Design with Nature, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design to publish Design with Nature Now, showcasing some of the most advanced ecological design projects in the world today. We asked some of the book’s contributors to weigh in on Ian McHarg’s lasting influence and what will make it possible to design with nature at scale today.

Above: Some of the book’s authors and editors at the Cambridge book launch in October 2019. Front row: Frederick Steiner, Laurel McSherry, Anne Whiston Spirn. Second row: Andrew Revkin, Erle Ellis. Third row: Alan Berger, Emily McKeigue, Jonah Susskind. Fourth row: Maureen Clarke, William Whitaker. 

“I think we need to get serious about regenerative design. Regeneration involves recovery and rebuilding, yes, but also restoration, renewal, and revitalization. Regeneration improves ecosystems by contributing to ecosystem services rather than depleting them. Several of the Design With Nature Now projects illustrate this. For instance, Freshkills Park is more about regeneration than resiliency as it is transforming a huge landfill into a new, healthy landscape.”

— Frederick Steiner, Dean and Paley Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design; Volume Editor and Author of “Green the Earth, Restore the Earth, Heal the Earth,” Design with Nature Now

Above: After operating as a garbage dump for more than 50 years, Staten Island’s FreshKills Landfill was transformed into a public park starting in the early 2010s. The grasslands park, which will stretch over 2,000 acres once it is completed in 2036, will offer spaces for athletics, education, and recreation.

“We need an expansion of McHarg’s methods . . . creatively reimagined to accommodate more complexity and diversity and to design—as much as that is possible—a planetary future with both nature, and human nature, in mind.”

— Andrew Revkin, Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute Initiative on Communication and Sustainability; Author of “Design as a Quest, Not a Task,” Design with Nature Now

Above: McHarg’s landscape suitability analysis maps, which are widely considered the predicate for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), showed where to locate development and where to leave nature undisturbed.

“I knew nothing about landscape architecture until I read Ian McHarg’s description of the field in the brochure of the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. McHarg’s text was a call to action. It spoke directly to me, offering the opportunity to join a profession that would give scope to all my disparate interests: landscape, environment, history, art, photography, social action. I decided to switch from Penn’s doctoral program in art history to landscape architecture.”

— Anne Whiston Spirn, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning; Author of “A Landscape of Ideas and Action: Place, Process, Form, and Language,” Design with Nature Now

Above: Since 1987, Spirn has directed the West Philadelphia Landscape Project, which aims to improve regional water quality and rebuild healthy neighborhoods through environmental and design education. Over the years, staff and residents have transformed vacant urban lots, built community gardens, proposed green infrastructure elements, and developed school curricula about the region’s history. The above photo shows Aspen Farms in June 2018.

“For climate change adaptation, design with nature is already increasingly in demand, in the form of ‘nature-based solutions’ and green infrastructure. To scale these up, one key element is the integration of these solutions into infrastructure standards, such as those guiding urban development and road construction. On the other hand, I fear that efforts to mitigate climate change through green infrastructure, including green roofs and tree planting to store emissions of carbon from fossil fuels, are no better than a fig leaf hiding the much harder ultimate solution to climate change: the need to transition from carbon emitting to clean energy systems.”

— Erle Ellis, Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Author of “Nature as Designer: Emancipating Nonhuman Ecologies in an Increasingly Human World,” Design with Nature Now

Above: Ellis was a keynote speaker at the Design with Nature Now conference hosted by the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology in June 2019.

“McHarg promoted the understanding of natural systems to avoid damaging the resources humans are dependent upon. In McHarg’s time, he had to understand what was in place and what would be there in the foreseeable future if we learned how to manage it. But now, what is there is moving and changing, so it is even more imperative to try to understand natural systems and their behavior.”

— Ignacio Bunster-Ossa, Vice President at AECOM; Author of “McHarg: The Long View, Shortened,” Design with Nature Now

Above: Bunster-Ossa led the development of the Bethlehem SteelStacks Arts + Cultural Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The project, which transformed the former Bethlehem Steel Plant into an arts, culture, and community space, was awarded the Urban Land Institute’s Global Award of Excellence and Rudy Bruner Award.

“Our challenge, if we are to build something greater out of the detritus that escaped McHarg’s grasp, is to intelligently interpret the systemic thinking brought forth by him to generations of landscape architects and regional planners during the later twentieth century. His model must be implemented both to protect pre-development land, and post-development waste.”

— Alan Berger, Leventhal Professor of Advanced Urbanism and Co-Director of the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT; Coauthor of “The Planetary Optic and Finding the Real Ground,” Design with Nature Now

Above: As part of the work at MIT’s P-REX lab, Berger, Berger mapped Philadelphia’s “urban void geography.” The project identified hundreds of small vacant lots to determine how they might be combined into bigger lots in a landscape reuse program. The above map shows vacant parcels, retail areas, toxic release sites, and parks.

“I think the thing that makes McHarg’s ideas still so important is that they were not just McHarg’s ideas. The power of his work came, in many ways, from his ability to consistently convene a robust transdisciplinary conversation. His ideas were generated through the deconstruction of silos within and outside of academia.”

— Jonah Susskind, lecturer in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and researcher at the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism; Coauthor of “The Planetary Optic and Finding the Real Ground,” Design with Nature Now 

Above: McHarg on the set of The Mike Douglas Show in 1969 discussing his book.

“In less than 20 years, McHarg … established the place of design in the awakening environmental consciousness. The pessimism (or was it realism?) in his remarks on the Earth Day stage was a call to action, an expression of outrage at the current state of affairs. People were listening and taking action; the environment had become a great unifying force.”

— William Whitaker, Curator and Collections Manager for the Architectural Archives at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design; Author of “Why Do I Have to Be the Man to Bring You the Bad News,” Design with Nature Now

Above: McHarg in 1970 at Independence Mall during the first Earth Week, which was organized by University of Pennsylvania students and faculty.

Photographs (in order of appearance):

Credit: Maggie Janik.

Credit: Alex S. MacLean, Landslides Aerial Photography. 

Credit: University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts  Collection, The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania.

Credit: Anne Whiston Spirn.

Credit: University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

Credit: Ignacio Bunster-Ossa.

Credit: Alan Berger.

Credit: Ian and Carol McHarg Collection, The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania.

Credit: Courtesy University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

Marvin Rees nació en Bristol, Reino Unido, y creció en las viviendas públicas de la ciudad. De allí fue a estudiar políticas e historia económicas en la Universidad Swansea; luego, desarrollo global en Eastern University, Pensilvania, y el programa de liderazgo mundial en Yale World Fellows. Trabajó en el área de salud pública, donde promovió la igualdad racial en la atención de la salud mental, y como periodista de radiodifusión para la BBC, antes de buscar un puesto político en su ciudad natal. Cuando fue electo, en mayo de 2016, se convirtió en el primer alcalde de ascendencia negra afro-caribeña en una ciudad europea. Se comprometió con convertir a Bristol (un ex centro fabril a unos 160 kilómetros al oeste de Londres con más de 450.000 habitantes) en “una ciudad más justa para todos”, centrada en viviendas asequibles, una mejor estructura de tránsito, atención médica y movilidad social mediante el acceso a la educación. Rees, de 47 años, también trabajó para mejorar las comunicaciones y la colaboración con los votantes y los grupos cívicos. Vive en East Bristol con su esposa y sus tres hijos. En su entrevista con Anthony Flint, miembro sénior, Rees reflexiona acerca de la igualdad, el crecimiento y la inmigración, en medio de un clima político tumultuado en el Reino Unido.

Anthony Flint: Uno de los afiches de su campaña indicaba que cuando fuera electo construiría 2.000 viviendas al año. ¿Qué había detrás de esa promesa? ¿Y cómo evolucionó?

Marvin Rees: El motivo por el cual las viviendas asequibles se hicieron prioritarias es que son una de las herramientas de políticas más importantes que tenemos para ofrecerle a la población salud, una economía sólida, una sociedad estable y buenos resultados educativos. Al igual que muchas ciudades de los Estados Unidos, nos encontramos en una crisis de vivienda. No hemos construido lo suficiente, y el mercado privado por su cuenta no ha dado la oportunidad de poseer un hogar estable. Ha sido difícil, en parte porque no teníamos armada la maquinaria organizativa para priorizar el territorio y desarrollarlo. Pero parece que estamos encaminados para alcanzar la meta: 2.000 viviendas al año para 2020, 800 [de ellas] asequibles. Hay toda una mezcla: viviendas obreras donde poseemos el suelo; una asociación de viviendas sociales con alquileres inferiores a los precios de mercado; constructores en volumen que, dentro de sus esquemas, también deben ofrecer viviendas asequibles; y estamos apoyando esquemas de autoconstrucción, mediante los que las comunidades se unen [para construir viviendas compartidas en suelo infrautilizado]. Tuvimos la exhibición Bristol Housing Festival, que presentó métodos modernos de construcción, como fabricación fuera del sitio. Hacemos hincapié en la calidad y la comunidad. Lo que no queremos es simplemente armar cajas y llenarlas de gente.

AF: Al pensar en crecimiento sostenible y viviendas asequibles, según su opinión, ¿cuál es la función de las políticas de suelo, entre ellas la tributación territorial? ¿Cuál es su postura respecto de la captura de valor territorial y la tributación del valor del suelo?

MR: Vengo de un entorno de salud pública y periodismo, entonces tuve que hacer un curso acelerado sobre cómo funcionan varias partes de una ciudad. El valor territorial es un desafío masivo porque el suelo se convirtió en un producto básico, que pasa por las manos de varios propietarios cuyo objetivo no es construirle cosas encima, sino simplemente ganar dinero. Necesitamos poderes a nivel del gobierno local, y el gobierno nacional debe tomar medidas para modificar la manera en que se utiliza el suelo. Personalmente, creo nos debemos una conversación inmensa. En el Reino Unido, creemos que la educación es un bien común. Pensamos lo mismo sobre la salud, y por lo tanto tenemos un Servicio Nacional de Salud. Y creo que, por la justicia social y la fortaleza de nuestra economía, necesitamos volver a enmarcar nuestro modo de pensar en el suelo y las viviendas. Si fallamos en esto, terminaremos con lo que vimos en todo el mundo: la clase media desaparece, y el resultado es una población bifurcada y un estado frágil. Esto es una crisis.

AF: Ha aceptado el concepto de reinvención para las ciudades postindustriales, que es un tema grande para U.K. 2070 Commission, una iniciativa de investigación asociada con el Instituto Lincoln. ¿Pero cómo alienta al crecimiento en su ciudad y en otras parecidas en el contexto de Brexit?

MR: Brexit es la respuesta incorrecta al problema correcto. La gente quedó olvidada; perdió la esperanza. [La gente siente que] la política está cada vez más lejos de ella. El otro problema que identificó Brexit es que la gente perdió el contacto con su historia y relato nacionales, y con quiénes son. Al igual que en los Estados Unidos, quieren volver a los 50. Estos son reclamos legítimos, pero Brexit no va a resolver el problema. La globalización ha integrado nuestras comunidades para que usemos los mismos productos: Pizza Hut no tiene nada de inglés, ¿o sí? De muchas formas, estamos en un mundo posnacional y no podemos depositar nuestro futuro en las manos de un gobierno nacional. El gobierno a nivel de la ciudad es el mejor lugar para actuar: las ciudades están formando redes internacionales para trabajar en conjunto en temas compartidos, como cambio climático, inmigración e igualdad.

AF: Tómese un momento para explicar el One City Plan de Bristol, que expone una visión de dónde estará la ciudad en 2050, y está nominado para el premio a la Capital de la Innovación de la UE. ¿Cómo equilibra las innumerables ideas de los votantes con la implementación del plan que determinó que es necesario?

MR: El One City Plan surge de comprender que lo que la gente recibe no proviene únicamente del gobierno; la gente debe sentirse en la intersección de [decisiones tomadas por] la ciudad, universidades, el sector privado . . . Y si queremos dar forma al futuro, debemos aferrarnos a ese impacto colectivo y alinearnos un poco. También se basa en el sentido de que no podemos esperar a ver qué viene por las vías del tren. Debemos ver dónde debemos estar en 2050, y si queremos estar ahí para 2050, qué debemos entregar en 2048 o en 2025, y trabajar hacia atrás. Es un documento vivo con prioridades compartidas y un acuerdo real. Cualquier persona de Bristol puede tomar una copia del plan y decir: “Comprendo, harán X para 2050, pero creo que debería hacerse para 2025”. Por ejemplo, la neutralidad de carbono. El One City Plan nos da la materia prima y nos muestra cómo podemos llegar a los puntos en común.

El plan está basado en seis pisos [Salud y Bienestar; Economía; Viviendas y Comunidades; Medio Ambiente; Aprendizaje y Habilidades; Conectividad]. Cada uno de esos pisos tiene una junta [conformada por miembros de la comunidad], y ellos son responsables de hacer actualizaciones todos los años. También tenemos algo llamado City Gathering (Reunión de la Ciudad) cada seis meses. En la primera se reunieron unas 70 personas . . . y yo les dije: entre nosotros, gastamos £ 6.000 millones [US$ 7.400 millones] y empleamos a 70.000 personas en la economía. Si nos alineamos en una pequeña cantidad de prioridades compartidas, ¿qué no podríamos lograr? Tenemos un poder increíble. Estamos intentando crear un espacio para que la gente pueda [conectarse y] encontrar respuestas.

AF: Al desempeñarse en su empleo, fue víctima de comentarios extremistas y antiinmigratorios. ¿Cómo hace para ocupar un alto cargo ejecutivo con un plan progresista en ese tipo de entorno?

MR: Lo logro porque creo que todo el argumento sobre la inmigración es, para ser benevolente, un error, y si soy menos benevolente, una gran mentira. La inmigración no es la causa de los problemas de la gente. Yo crecí siendo pobre entre esas personas a las que se acusa. Que haya miembros de la élite inglesa que van por ahí, y se ve algo similar en los Estados Unidos, culpando a los inmigrantes por la situación del país sobre el cual han tenido un poder absoluto durante siglos . . . es un poco fuerte. Han creado una situación en la cual la gente relativamente pobre y desprovista de poder está culpando a otra gente pobre y sin poder por la situación en la que nos encontramos. No me cuesta, también, porque quiero estar en un lugar donde pueda decir lo que pienso de verdad. Yo soy un hombre mestizo. Mi papá vino de Jamaica; la herencia inglesa de mi mamá se remonta a mucho tiempo atrás en Bristol. Mi abuelo era de Gales del Sur y, antes, de Irlanda. Soy la encarnación física de la migración, entonces pienso que es hipócrita decir que la migración es la causa de los males del mundo. 

Otro problema es que los gobiernos nacionales dan forma al debate por la migración. Y debería ser al revés. Lo que necesitamos es que los gobiernos nacionales empiecen a hablar con las ciudades y preguntarles qué necesitan. [Las ciudades] tienden a ver la migración como un activo, en términos de la conectividad con los mercados mundiales. Si seguimos las poblaciones asiáticas, africanas, de Europa Oriental, nos conectan con oportunidades internacionales. Los gobiernos nacionales están usando números abstractos y hablan de cuántas personas más dejan entrar. Y eso es totalmente diferente a lo que debemos conversar.

AF: Por último, aunque por cierto no es lo menos importante: ¿cuál es su visión sobre cómo pueden aportar las ciudades como Bristol para combatir el cambio climático y a la vez prepararse para los impactos inevitables?

MR: Reconocemos absolutamente que se trata de una crisis con consecuencias muy reales. Mayor riesgo de inundaciones, temperaturas más extremas, desertificación: acabaremos con un incremento de la migración de áreas rurales a urbanas, y una fuente de conflicto que llevará a más crisis. Para las ciudades, la emergencia climática será inseparable de la emergencia migratoria global. Las ciudades deben tener el mando, por varios motivos. Uno tiene que ver con la voluntad política. Esto es indudable en los Estados Unidos: el gobierno federal parece no tener voluntad política, pero hemos visto que algunos alcaldes del país dieron un paso al frente para tomar las riendas cuando el gobierno federal se retira. Las ciudades son más propensas a observar en términos de interdependencias, mientras que el gobierno nacional está más ocupado con las fronteras. Las ciudades están equipadas con la maquinaria política para marcar el camino.

Anthony Flint es miembro sénior del Instituto Lincoln de Políticas de Suelo.

Fotografía: Marvin Rees. Crédito: Oficina del alcalde de Bristol.

What is the flood mitigation potential of urban parks in Houston? Could an urban growth boundary stop sprawl in the Buffalo-Niagara region? How do zoning regulations perpetuate racial inequality and poverty in Oakland? Academics and government officials explored these and other complex questions as part of The Place Database contest. The contest challenged researchers, policy makers, academics, and public officials to use maps created in The Place Database—a data visualization tool launched in 2017 by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and PolicyMap—as a basis to tell a story about a place or places.

The Place Database is built on the PolicyMap platform and enables users to map a broad array of indicators from housing prices to zoning. It is designed to be easy to use for academics, local governments, the general public, and journalists, regardless of their experience with tools like ArcGIS, according to Jenna DeAngelo, associate director of international and institute wide initiatives at the Lincoln Institute. Users can search U.S. geographies and select from a list of data layers, such as aggregate transportation costs or local revenue per pupil, and data points, including brownfield sites and structurally deficient bridges. The platform can zoom down to the block group level and draws on information from sources like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the past two years, the resource has been used in academic theses, as a tool for brokers and real estate agents, in curricula developed by the National Building Museum, and more. The most popular data layers include per capita income, median home value, and critical habitat, while the most frequently used data points have been LIHTCs, Brownfields, and FEMA floods.

The Lincoln Institute decided to host this contest to promote the tool and find out more about who was using the tool and how they were using it, DeAngelo said. It attracted over 40 submissions. A committee composed of Lincoln Institute and PolicyMap staff, a representative from the City of Cambridge GIS and Community Development departments, and a professor from Boston University reviewed the entries, selecting five winning projects and awarding $1,500 to each to develop a brief narrative using the maps that are now featured as use cases on the Lincoln Institute website.

One of the winning projects focused on housing in St. Louis, where the majority of affordable housing funded through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is concentrated in neighborhoods with extensive blight and vacancy and related poor health outcomes. Jason Whiteley, a research analyst at the St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency, used The Place Database to better understand what factors, such as restrictive single-family zoning in more affluent parts of the city, have created this current geographic distribution of LIHTC developments.

“We wanted to go beyond the standard talking points about siting affordable housing and look at a more local context and see what issues might impact siting decisions,” Whitley said. “This mapping exercise allowed us to see where the LIHTCs fall against a host of variables, such as vacancy, and served as a good starting point to talk about not just LIHTCs but all the different types of affordable housing in the city.”

In the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Reza Sardari — who earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington and is now an analyst at Cintra, a private sector transportation infrastructure company — explored the factors that are creating increased cost-burdens for low-income families.

In his narrative, cowritten by Raha Pouladi, a planner at the city of Celina, Texas, Sardari presented maps from the Place Database highlighting census tracts where housing costs consume 27 to 30 percent of household income. He also used a data layer that illustrates the percent change in housing price index to identify zip codes that have more recently started to face affordability challenges and might benefit from early interventions to preserve affordability.

Other maps in the project illustrated the spatial mismatch between the concentration of subsidized properties in the southern sector of Dallas and the increasing growth of low-wage jobs in the northern sector of the city. The project concluded with a list of approaches, such as inclusionary zoning, community land trusts, and improved access to public transit, that would create a more even distribution of subsidized housing throughout the city.

“Combining affordability with housing price changes is a unique contribution of the Place Database,” Sardari said. “House price change is missing in other data sources. Often you have to go look in other places.” Most datasets in the Place Database are updated every year as new data becomes available, according to DeAngelo, which allows users to map changes over time.

Sardari emphasized that being able to access a range of datasets on one site is also an advantage of the tool, as researchers often have to navigate between the websites of places like the U.S. Census Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, and Environmental Protection Agency to map multiple criteria. For instance, in his analysis, Whiteley was able to access datasets from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Valassis Lists, a direct mail marketing company that compiles vacancy data; and the City of St. Louis, without leaving The Place Database platform.

For researchers who want to do a deeper dive, the Place Database offers the option to download datasets, Sardari added.

While none of the winners told stories across multiple geographies, DeAngelo said that this capability is another strength of the Place Database: “Many tools are hyper-focused on indicators in one city or region, but The Place Database lets policy makers compare U.S. geographies in one tool, as opposed to having to look at multiple tools that might not have standard data across places.”

The tool is one among a suite of free and accessible databases the Lincoln Institute offers, including the Atlas of Urban Expansion, Fiscally Standardized Cities, the State-by-State Property Tax at a Glance Visualization Tool, and Land and Property Values in the U.S.

Emma Zehner is communications and publications editor at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Image: The relative concentration of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments in and around census tracts with elevated levels of vacancy in the City of St. Louis. Credit: The Place Database/Jason Whiteley, St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency.

Born and raised in the working-class Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, Martin J. Walsh is serving his second term as Boston’s 54th mayor, focusing on schools, affordable housing, and immigration, among many other issues. He has also become an international leader in confronting climate change and building resilience, hosting a major climate summit in 2018 and forming a coalition of mayors committed to working on renewable energy and other strategies. He has pledged to make Boston carbon-neutral by 2050, and has led Imagine Boston 2030, the first citywide comprehensive plan in half a century, as well as the Resilient Boston Harbor initiative. He made time to speak with Senior Fellow Anthony Flint to reflect on being mayor in the midst of the unfolding climate crisis.

Anthony Flint: You have been one of the most active mayors in the nation on the pressing issue of climate change. Tell us about your recent efforts to coordinate action—and how you feel about all this work being done at the local level in the absence of a federal initiative?

Marty Walsh: We hosted our first climate summit, and we’ve been working with mayors across America. I was elected as the North American co-chair for C40 prior to President Trump pulling out of the Paris climate accord. We’ve been working with Mayor [Eric] Garcetti in Los Angeles and other mayors to make sure that cities recommitted themselves to the Paris climate agreement. This is such an important issue for the country and for Boston, and it’s so important to have engagement and leadership. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t had a [federal] partner in the last few years. But we’re going to continue to take on the challenges and continue to think about the next generation. What I’m hoping is that ultimately we will have a federal partner, and [when that time comes] we won’t be starting at zero.

AF: Turning first to mitigation: what are the most important ways that cities can help reduce carbon emissions? Should cities require the retrofitting of older buildings, for example, to make them more energy efficient?

MW: We have a program called Renew Boston Trust, identifying energy savings in city-owned buildings. It’s important to be sure we start in our own backyard. We have 14 buildings underway for retrofits—libraries, community centers, police and fire stations. Secondly, we’re looking at electrifying some of our vehicles. The third piece is looking at retrofitting and new construction, making sure all new construction is built to higher performance standards with fewer carbon emissions. Ultimately, as we think about reducing carbon emissions, we are looking at 85,000 buildings in our city . . . if we want to hit net zero carbon by 2050, we’ll have to retrofit those buildings, large and small. Then there’s transportation—getting our transportation system to be cleaner and greener. Even if we had a strong national policy, it’s ultimately the cities that will have to carry out the reductions.

AF: Even if we stopped all carbon emissions tomorrow, the planet will still have to manage significant sea level rise, flooding, volatile weather, wildfires, and more, because of inexorably rising temperatures. What are the most promising efforts here and around the country in building resilience?

MW: For Boston and East Coast cities and oceanfront property, our Resilient Boston Harbor plan lays out some good strategies. We have 47 miles of shoreline, and rivers that run through and border our city. We’ve looked at [the 2012 Atlantic hurricane] Superstorm Sandy and at what happened in Houston [due to Hurricane Harvey in 2017], in terms of protecting people in major flooding events. We have one big plan for the harbor, but there are other neighborhoods where we have to make sure we’re prepared. We’re doing planning studies in all of these areas [under the Climate Ready Boston initiative] to deal with sea-level rise. They eventually become one environmental plan.

It is a public safety matter. It’s about quality of life and the future of our city. In the past, mayors have focused on economic development and transportation and education. Today, climate change, resilience, and preparedness are part of the conversation in ways they weren’t 25 years ago. 

AF: At the Lincoln Institute, we’re big believers in working with nature through blue and green infrastructure—and coming up with new ways to pay for it. Are you also a fan of this approach, which the Dutch and others have developed?

MW: Resilient Boston Harbor is really a green infrastructure plan. One project that speaks to that is Martin’s Park, named for Martin Richard [the youngest victim of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing]. We raised parts of the park to prevent flood pathways, and installed mini piles and vegetated beds reinforced with stone to prevent erosion at higher tides. We’re looking at doing something like that throughout the inner harbor. We’re spending $2 million at Joe Moakley Park, which is the start of major flood pathways to several neighborhoods . . . we’re trying to cut back on as much flood-related property damage and disruption of people’s lives as possible. Berms and other barriers can help keep the water out . . . but there are opportunities to let the water through and not let it build up, in a major storm event.

AF: In addition to new taxes that have been proposed, would you support a value capture arrangement where the private sector contributes more to these kinds of massive public investments? 

MW: On top of private investment—which we’re going to need more of—we are working with philanthropic organizations, to see if some philanthropic dollars can go into these kinds of projects. In our budget this year, we’re dedicating 10 percent in capital budget to resilience. We’re also looking at taking some dedicated revenue and putting it into resilience. For example, we raised fines and penalties for parking violations. That will go right back into transportation and resilience, including things like raising streets up. That’s a start. Over time, we’ll dedicate more of our budget to this. At some point hopefully, the federal government will invest. Right now, they are paying millions and millions for disaster relief. Rather than coming in after an event and a tragedy happens, I would hope that they will want to make investments on the front end.

AF: Given projections that large swaths of Boston will be underwater later this century, can you reflect on a personal level about this threat to the city you currently lead? How would you inspire more urgency to address this problem?

MW: That’s our job. Our job is to govern in the present day, and manage all the day-to-day operations, but our job is also to lay down the foundation of what our city looks like in the future. The infrastructure that we build out will be here for the next 50 to 60 years. The Resilient Boston Harbor plan is [designed] to deal with sea-level rise 40 or 50 years from now. We’re building all of that with the expectation of preserving and protecting the residents of the city. I would hope that when I’m not here as mayor anymore, the next mayor will come in and will want to invest as well. This is the legacy of the city—I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily my legacy—to look back years from now, for residents to look back and be grateful for the investments and the time that leaders took in 2017 and 2018 and 2019.

I don’t think as a country we’re where we need to be. The Dutch and other European countries are farther ahead. So we’re playing catch-up. We’re not waiting for the next generation to try to solve this problem.

Photographs in order of appearance

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at the annual Mayor’s Greenovate Awards, which recognize climate and sustainability leaders in the community. Credit: John Wilcox, courtesy of City of Boston Mayor’s Office.

Mayor Walsh addresses a crowd of protesters at City Hall during the September 2019 youth climate strike. Credit: Jeremiah Robinson, courtesy of City of Boston Mayor’s Office.