People have been drawn to coastal locations as settlement sites and trading posts since immemorial. Coasts provide the availability of transport links and access to marine resources.

Although living along or near coastal areas provides many benefits, it exposes people and assets to various hazards, including storm surges and the slow onset of sea level rise. Climate change-induced sea-level rise will act as a risk multiplier, affecting the world’s coasts by increasing flood and erosion risks and potentially permanently inundating some areas.
Hawaii’s economic, tourism, hospitality, and cultural hub is facing a $19 billion loss due to floods from rising sea levels. Waikīkī’s global sea level rise (SLR) will be 3.2 feet (1 meter) by 2100, leading to persistent floods caused by SLR, groundwater inundation, king tides, rainfall, and storm surge.
To mitigate future floods and their economic impacts, an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa have created an iterative architectural rendering of “in-place” flood adaptation strategies presented to a diverse group of stakeholders who were encouraged to provide their views regarding the applicability of these climate adaptation strategies in Waikīkī’i.
Stakeholders came from various backgrounds: neighborhood board members, Native Hawaiians, government employees, residents, architects, planners, landowners, realtors, business owners and managers, tourism and recreation industry employees, teachers, students, and visitors.
These flood adaptation strategies were deemed appropriate in densely populated and developed urban areas instead of retreat.
In 2020 and 2021, the team designed numerous climate adaptation strategies for buildings, utilities, transportation, and open space.
These SLR adaptation strategies, shown as architectural renderings, are published as a special issue in Oceanography. They include elevated critical systems, floodable open space, buildings with flood-resistant materials, raised streetscapes, elevated interior circulation, greywater reuse, cisterns, rainwater collection, and many more.
In 2022, the team created and presented these architectural renderings in a series of workshops to invited community stakeholders. To clearly illustrate these strategies, they integrated applicable SLR strategies for Waikīkī in 2050 and 2100 into two study sites and a generic site.
They also developed a method to estimate future sea level rise and presented it to the participants to create a deeper understanding of flood risk to the built environment and to develop guidance for climate adaptation plans.
Responses to the 2022 renderings were used for a third study site in 2023, where it was again presented to stakeholders to obtain their views on its feasibility. Participants’ responses show that the most applicable SLR strategies for 2050 include relocating critical systems, living shorelines, ecological filtration of stormwater, and floodable open space.
The team found that renderings are vital tools for making the flooding and adaptation strategies tangible and enabling public surveys and comments.
They also highlighted academia’s pivotal role in addressing public issues such as future flooding threats and predictions. Research methods and findings can also help inform local policy development, particularly in climate adaptation planning.
Communities and infrastructure are already experiencing coastal flooding and erosion damage costs. The approach of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in increasing engagement with those directly at risk and planning with future conditions and using their views and responses to improve and contextualize adaptation strategies can serve as a model to other coastal and low-lying urban areas facing similar hazards.
Source:
Meguro, W., C.H. Fletcher, J. Briones, E. Teeples, and G. Casey. 2024. A visionary approach to advancing sea level rise adaptation in an urban coastal community, Waikīkī, Hawai’i. Oceanography 37(1):122–123, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.223.
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