A Science and Community-Driven Approach to Illustrating Urban Adaptation to Coastal Flooding to Inform Management Plans

Academic research plays a pivotal role in illustrating and testing potential future adaptation strategies to sea level rise in low-lying coastal communities and enhances local municipalities’ adaptation plans. In Waikīkī, Hawai‘i, the built environment is increasingly impacted by flooding from multiple drivers: sea level rise-induced direct marine inundation, storm-drain backflow, and groundwater inundation (GWI), compounded by high-wave runup, extreme tides, heavy rainfall, and a shallow groundwater table. Given Waikīkī’s economic and cultural importance, in-place accommodation of flooding is desired, yet implementation plans have not been developed. By combining current scientific research, urban design visualizations, and community feedback, the interdisciplinary research team advanced intentional communication between the many parties seeking increased flood resilience through the end of the 21st century. Site-specific architectural renderings were a key tool to prompt structured community input on the coordination, prioritization, policy, and feasibility of adaptation measures for buildings, utilities, transportation, and open space. Public outreach reports document that the majority of participants thought all adaptation strategies presented were applicable, especially relocating critical equipment in buildings and streets. Proposed methods to develop sea level rise-adjusted minimum building elevation requirements may inform local municipalities’ future codes to minimize coastal property damage. The multi-year iterative process fostered growing participation in hosted and invited events, further improving the publicly distributed research products.