Venice is building storm surge protection. Helsinki is planning on inviting water in. Boston could do both. As seas rise (Boston has seen a rise of nearly a foot in the last century), cities are preparing for the impact of climate change and rising waters.
More than 200 attendees and speakers from around the world descended on the Metcalf Trustee Center for BU’s first conference on Sea Level Rise and the Future of Coastal Cities. Co-hosted by the Initiative on Cities and the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, the conference sought to examine how cities are planning for and adapting to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changing coastlines. The conference was the brainchild of the late Thomas Menino, former Mayor of Boston and CAS faculty member, who personally invited many of the participants and speakers to join in a discussion that he felt was of deep importance to our city and others around the world.