Hurricane Sandy, in fact, is changing the way some of the city’s waterfront developments are being built, says William Kenworthey, partner and urban design practice leader at the New York City architectural and urban design firm Cooper Robertson. That firm is involved with waterfront projects in Staten Island; Greenpoint, Red Hook, and Gowanus in Brooklyn; and Newark and Asbury Park, New Jersey.

“The resiliency issues raised by the impact of Sandy are driving design thinking for these developments—and the attitude that ‘we will not abandon the waterfront’ still rings true,” says Kenworthey. “How to make a waterfront experience that embraces the uniqueness of a particular place, enhances the waterfront, and protects investments from storm events and sea-level rise are the goals we work toward in our designs.”

Resilience is born of sustainability and addresses the ability to adapt to impacts of climate change, Kenworthey explains. “This adaptability will continue to be a major goal of large-scale and waterfront plans going forward if they are to create and maintain value over the long term in a changing environment,” he says. “Sustainability is a major factor in mitigation of the climate change issues presented by the international science community.”

Read more at Urban Land