22/05/2024
Designing for EXTREME Flooding -
Heritage Strategies for Sea Level Rise in The Hague
The Netherlands Exchange Recife (nXr) workshop will be held from June 17 to 21 by Agency of Cultural Heritage of the Netherlands - Ministry of Science, Culture and Education of the Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), PortCityFutures, Municipality of The Hague, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (Unesco), and the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE).
Join the nXr workshop!
Let's brainstorm together on how to make The Hague resilient to climate change.
Professionals and students of Architecture and Urban Planning have a special opportunity to contribute to the development of innovative solutions for The Hague's resilience to climate change by participating in the Netherlands Exchange Recife (nXr) Workshop - Designing for EXTREME Flooding - Heritage Strategies for Sea Level Rise in The Hague. Academics, professionals, and students from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) will (re)think The Hague's future in light of the climate crisis and its consequences, with a special focus on sea level rise.
Participation is free with limited spots available, and you can register at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QWPkUcCBJxcqxGlycEZGXGZJajS_WuG1_76w-nm2I9E/
One of the most vulnerable cities in the world to climate change, The Hague faces the threat of being submerged due to rising sea levels. The event's goal is to find ways to protect the country's oldest capital—celebrating its 800th anniversary in 2042—from becoming permanently flooded. Historically, water management in the Netherlands has predominantly emphasized "protection" technologies. The valuable insights offered by spatial design disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and heritage conservation are expected to be explored in this workshop. It will also feature the experience of professionals from Recife (Brazil) who have made strides in urban transformation processes in partnership with civil society to address their urban challenges. The meeting aims to co-design concepts and strategies for protection, adaptation, and mitigation to combat the adverse climate effects projected for The Hague, thereby adapting and safeguarding the port city against the encroachment of the North Sea.
Projection of Port of Scheveningen - The Hague under rising sea levels.
The focus of the discussions will be the Port of Scheveningen, its vulnerability in the face of climate change, how it affects its water systems and cultural heritage, and the port terminal's climate adaptation strategies. The aim is to develop a future vision for the Port of Scheveningen for the next century, using innovative and interdisciplinary tools and methodologies.
The nXr is part of a pioneering series of workshops in which professionals and students from Brazil and the Netherlands have collaborated over a decade to brainstorm solutions to urban problems in Recife, a city in northeastern Brazil that received the first Renaissance-style urban plan in the Americas as it transformed into the capital of Dutch Brazil in the 17th century. The impact of this exchange resulted in a new urban vision for the city and led to public policies to address its environmental and socio-spatial challenges—a process so significant that it has been dubbed "the reinvention of Recife." With rXn, the experience of the Brazilian city will combine with that of The Hague for another moment of exchange between the Netherlands and Recife.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT - A Decade of Fruitful Collaboration
The first collaborative experience, Recife Exchange Amsterdam (RXA), held in 2011 in Recife, yielded two key outcomes. One was the need to recover the city's long-term planning. From this discussion, the year 2037 was set as a target for implementing planned changes, marking when Recife becomes the first Brazilian capital to reach its 500th anniversary.
Another important outcome from the workshop was understanding the city through the analogy of a Water Tree. Emerged when the participants studied an aerial view of Recife, this image symbolizes the network of water formed by three basins and the maritime front, giving the city its "amphibious" characteristics. In this analogy, the roots of the tree are the beaches and waterfronts, while the trunk is the union of the Capibaribe, Beberibe, and Tejipió river basins, forming the common estuary. The three rivers represent the branches, the channels, gutters, and streams are the smaller branches, and the leaves, flowers, and fruits are the people and organized civil society. From this Water Tree vision emerged the strategy to restore the water network as a starting point for designing a new vision of the city: Recife City Park.
In 2019, the second meeting, Recife Exchange Holland (RXH), focused on urban sustainable development in a specific part of central Recife: Antônio Vaz Island, where the city's first plan was developed by the Dutch Brazil government in 1637. To reverse the decline of central neighborhoods, the event proposed a project with integrated management encompassing the entire island.
The third workshop, Recife Exchange Netherlands (RXN), titled Visions and Strategies in the Face of Sea Level Rise in Recife and the Netherlands, took place in 2021 in a virtual format. Recife, considered the 16th global climate hotspot (IPCC - 2014), urgently demands change. Its critical situation caused by climate change prompted the workshop to draft the Recife Charter from the future to the present, written in the first person, in which the city itself narrates how it could reinvent itself thanks to the collective efforts of organized civil society.
OUTCOMES OF THE RECIFE EXCHANGES AMSTERDAM/HOLLAND/NETHERLANDS WORKSHOPS
The results of these reflections generated several proactive actions for the city of Recife:
THE RECIFE WE NEED
In 2012, a civil society movement was organized, comprising businesspeople, professionals, universities, and others, called "The Recife We Need." The initiative aimed to advocate for a return to long-term planning for the city of Recife, based on five key pillars: the future, the city, the path, the history, and the river. The movement later aligned with the "The City We Need" campaign, the New Urban Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the COP (United Nations).
CAPIBARIBE PARK
From 2013 to 2020, the result of a Research, Development, Innovation + Activation (RDI+A) agreement between the Federal University of Pernambuco and the Recife City Hall, the Capibaribe Park project transformed the way Recife's residents engagement with the city's main river. The public perceived the Capibaribe River, Recife's most famous watercourse, as dead, but extensive research showed that it was actually the city's primary environmental/urban asset.
Following this finding, the project aimed to transform its banks into green areas with active mobility. The idea was to reconnect other green areas in the city, forming a system of parks connected by the river. The outcome of the research became public policy. In 2016, the first park, Jardim do Baobá, was opened, and in 2021, the Graças Park followed. The Capibaribe Park project was recognized as Good Practice by the Dutch Government's Cultural Agency in 2020.
RECIFE 500 YEARS PLAN
The Recife 500 Years Plan, launched in 2019, arose from the Recife City Hall's request to develop a long-term project for the city with a goal set for 2037, when Recife, Brazil's oldest capital, will celebrate its 500th anniversary. The plan's development was entrusted to the NGO Recife Agency for Innovation and Strategy (Aries).
RECIFE 500 YEARS COLLECTION
The Recife 500 Years Collection, launched through an agreement between Companhia Editora de Pernambuco (Cepe), the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), the Recife Observatory, and the Recife City Hall, features a set of publications from academic research developed by around 70 researchers. The collection's first stage includes the release of 14 books, with 8 already published between 2022 and 2023 focusing in workshops and the Capibaribe Park, along other important city issues such as drainage and the history of the city.
RECIFE CITY PARK - LANDSCAPE QUALITY PLAN
As studies delved deeper into the research that generated Capibaribe Park, it became evident that, beyond an urban park system, Recife had the potential to transform into a city-park by the time it reaches its 500th anniversary. To achieve this, the project would extend to the other two city basins and the oceanfront, forming a system of parks: Capibaribe Park + Beberibe Park + Tejipió Park + Marine Park.
The proposal was accepted by the municipal administration, and the Recife City Park project now has about 150 researchers involved. Currently, they are in the diagnostic phase, examining the studied areas and conducting urban activations with the residents.
The Recife City Park Project is the result of an agreement between UFPE and the Recife City Hall and began in 2023, with the first phase expected to be completed in 2026.
AMPHIBIOUS MEMBRANE
Aiming to design innovative solutions that are adaptive and mitigate climate effects in Recife, applied research was conducted at UFPE, integrating local knowledge with insights from other institutions such as the AA - Architectural Association (UK); MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA); Université de Toulouse (FRA); and IHE/Delft - Institute for Water Education under UNESCO (Netherlands). From this research, the concept of an "amphibious membrane" emerged, intended to protect Recife's direct interface with the Atlantic Ocean.
It is a system of three interconnected parks, offering various layers of protection for the city. The first is the Technological-Energy Park, situated between 1,000 and 1,500 meters from the coast, focused on renewable energy generation; the second is a Park of Floating Islands, located between 500 and 1,000 meters from the shore, whose main function is to buffer the system's primary source of physical weathering: direct erosion caused by wave impacts; and the third is a Park of Filtering Pools, within 500 meters of the coast—within walking distance of active mobility. Its main objectives are to create high-quality public space and purify the waters, thereby enhancing water quality and controlling tide levels.
THE NETHERLANDS EXCHANGE RECIFE (NxR) WORKSHOP
Just like Recife, through a collaborative effort, The Hague can benefit from the exchange between Dutch and Brazilian professionals and students. After all, both cities share similar realities: they are both port cities, have Dutch origins, are located by the sea, and are traversed by canals and waterways. Additionally, they share the same challenges in the face of the climate crisis, being considered climate hotspots.
In Recife's specific case, an aspect worth highlighting is the contribution of civil society in developing a future plan for the city and the partnership between UFPE and the Recife City Hall to tackle urban challenges.
The Netherlands Exchange Recife (nXr) workshop will be an opportunity for both cities to share these experiences and consider their futures in light of the climate crisis and the consequent sea-level rise. The event is part of the international master's course in Green Building, offered by the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at TU Delft, led by the UNESCO Chair in Port Cities, Heritage, and Water, along with its partners.
