Strengthening community design projects through effective engagement
CLIENT: Van Alen Institute
PROJECT AREA: City of North Miami and City of Miami
STATUS: Completed
TIMELINE: May 2019 - December 2019
WEBSITE: nomidesign.org
CHALLENGE
Sea level rise caused by accelerating climate change is affecting each local community in different ways. In Little Havana near Miami’s downtown, a community park, Jose Marti Park sits on the Miami River. The park is experiencing a growing number of flooding events, rendering the park useless, and preventing the diverse community surrounding the park from using the space for recreation, after school and health activities.
In the City of North Miami, most of the developed neighborhoods are located in the Arch Creek Basin, a naturally low-lying area where flooding events are on the rise. Due the natural geography, the city has a growing number of repetitive loss properties, mostly residential property that has flooded so often, it is no longer eligible for flood insurance coverage. The homes on these properties are often abandoned and the city takes possesion or purchases the property.
Solution
The Van Alen Institute believes that true solutions to resilience-related challenges can only arise through a community-driven process. Van Alen specializes in driving design projects aimed at creatively and innovatively addressing these challenges.
Our role
Urban Impact Lab developed and implemented the creative community engagement strategies which allowed specialized design firms to create the ideal solutions. In North Miami, the design for a “Stormwater Park” which transformed an empty lot into a useful community space that captures floodwaters while providing a beautiful recreation space for the community was fully implemented. In Little Havana, the redesign of Jose Marti Park’s border with the Miami River is underway.
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