STUDENT DESIGNS

 2023 Envision Resilience New Bedford and Fairhaven Challenge
As a program of ReMain Nantucket, the third iteration of the Envision Resilience Challenge in the South Coast of Massachusetts focused on New Bedford and Fairhaven and their shared port. The design studio took place in the fall of 2023 and called on undergraduate and graduate teams of architects, landscape architects, urban or regional planners, engineers, environmental scientists, naturalists, journalists and artists to reimagine the coastal neighborhoods and waterfront and propose imaginative solutions to the current and future impacts of sea level rise and climate change. 

New Bedford and Fairhaven have long been defined by their connection to the water. New Bedford, a historical and cultural hub in the heart of the South Coast that was once the whaling capital of the world, is now home to the highest earning fishing port in the country, with annual revenue of $11 billion. Neighboring Fairhaven, famously tied to Herman Melville and the whaleship Acushnet, has since developed an economy that supports many of the fishing, ferry and recreational vessels around the port. State recommendations to plan for sea level rise under a high emission scenario mean that the South Coast of Massachusetts, which includes New Bedford and Fairhaven, would experience 1.2 feet of sea level rise by 2030, 2.5 feet by 2050, 4.3 feet by 2070 and 7.8 feet by 2100. For more than 50 years, the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier—which has been called a “18,000-foot-long insurance policy against tidal flooding”—has provided both communities with a sense of security. And though it has done its job to protect against many hurricanes and storms since 1966, the Hurricane Barrier has not yet been tested with the kind of storm it was designed to withstand. What that means for the future of the port and neighboring communities remains to be seen. 

Like many coastal communities, New Bedford and Fairhaven are at the forefront of the fight against climate change. How will the many diverse communities with their own values adapt? How might the innovative design thinking of students help business owners, fishermen, families and residents consider adaptive waterfronts that embrace healthy, sustainable and equitable systems around water? How can a design studio reimagine the social, ecological and economic relations embedded in design to challenge the status quo and meet the needs of the community? In addition to the threats of sea level rise, New Bedford and Fairhaven are facing major challenges with affordable housing and gentrification, waste management and ecosystem health. Another priority for many local leaders is the transition to clean energy, primarily the balance and harmonious coexistence of the fishing industry and the offshore wind industry, development vs. greenspace, storm and wastewater management. 

Set against the backdrop of social and environmental inequities, along with the current and future impacts of climate on all systems and people, we are undoubtedly living in a moment of transformation. This transformation will require both a recognition of the changing landscapes we inhabit, as well as the need for new strategies to ensure an equitable and effective transition to the future. 

Participating universities were Howard University, Northeastern University, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Florida, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and University of Virginia.

Studio Reports and Publications

• Earth Island Journal Summer 2024 Feature: US Coastline Losing Ground to Rising Seas and Subsidence