A Climate Adaptive Future For The City of Hudson’s Waterfront

In December 2021, the Hudson Valley Collaborative gathered with community members for a meeting at the Waterfront Park. This meeting was part of our work for the City of Hudson Climate-Adaptive Design Project. The project calls for a design that will respond to flooding and projected sea level rise. This rise in global sea level is impacting the entire Hudson River estuary and adjacent waterfront properties. 

To help the community visualize what this means for the Waterfront Park, we marked the location of the future shoreline that will result from sea level rise with a striking pink tape stretched across the park lawn. With this intervention, the community was able to engage in conversation about the waterfront in relation to climate change.

Our day in Hudson with the community was an initial step in what will be an ongoing collaboration and discussion. Together we will consider the future of the park for all people, plants and wildlife as we imagine the possibilities of the changing shoreline. With community involvement, we begin a process of stewardship opportunities as part of the design process. 

A Pause For Reflection:

Approaching Design In Response to Climate Change

With the City of Hudson Waterfront, HVC is asked to reflect on the deep interconnectedness between changes in the environment on the global, national, and local level. We must find a way to take a projected change in the global sea level and use it to inform a timeline for action and intervention on the local scale. We must work collaboratively with local communities to design a waterfront that responds positively to changing conditions. The changing conditions are not such a distant future, they are here now.

The Hudson Valley Collaborative team includes Wendy Andringa, Kaja Kuhl, Anna Dietzsch, Keegan Oneal and eDesign Dynamics.

This document was prepared for the Hudson River Estuary Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, with support from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund, in cooperation with NEIWPCC. The viewpoints expressed here do not necessarily represent those of NEIWPCC or NYSDEC, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or causes constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. 

written by Lori Ball Horton for Assemblage Landscape Architecture