Coastal Resilience Planning
We completed coastal resilience plans to study and address coastal flooding from sea level rise and storms for all 47 miles of Boston’s coastline.Section Nav
- READ THE PLANS
- BOSTON’S HISTORIC COASTLINE
- Coastal Flood Risk
- Coastal Resilience Planning Process
- Planning to Implementation
- PAST ENGAGEMENT
- REPORT TRANSLATIONS
As part of the Climate Ready Boston initiative, the Coastal Resilience Solutions plans presented coastal resilience strategies for each of Boston’s five coastal neighborhoods, including Charlestown, Dorchester, Downtown/North End, East Boston, and South Boston. Together, the plans create a vision for the future of the Boston coastline that reduces coastal flood risk, enhances the city’s natural ecosystems, and improves connectivity, accessibility, and recreation along the waterfront. These planning processes laid the groundwork for action that the City is now taking.
Please visit the Coastal Resilience Implementation webpage to learn more about the status of implementing projects that were identified in the plans.
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READ THE PLANS
Coastal Resilience Solutions for East Boston & Charlestown Phase I
The Phase I plan was completed in 2017 and studied the waterfront from Sullivan Square to the Boston Autoport in Charlestown, and the waterfront from Logan Airport to Chelsea Creek in East Boston.Coastal Resilience Solutions for East Boston & Charlestown Phase IIThe Phase II plan was completed in 2022 and studied the waterfront from the Boston Autoport to the Charles River Dam in Charlestown, and the waterfront from Chelsea Creek to Wood Island Marsh in East Boston.Coastal Resilience Solutions for Downtown and North EndThe Downtown and North End plan was completed in 2020 and studied the waterfront from the Charles River Dam to the Fort Point Channel.Coastal Resilience Solutions for South BostonThe South Boston plan was completed in 2018 and studied the waterfront from the Fort Point Channel to Moakley Park.Coastal Resilience Solutions for DorchesterThe Dorchester plan was completed in 2020 and studied the waterfront from Dorchester Bay to the Neponset River.
BOSTON’S HISTORIC COASTLINE
The history of landmaking is part of what makes Boston so vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding. As early at 1722, colonists started to change the natural outline of Boston by using landfill to create new space for shipping facilities, rail infrastructure, development. and more. By the turn of the 19th century, Boston’s landfilling project had changed the shape of the coastline almost in its entirety. Neighborhoods like the Back Bay, Seaport, Logan Airport, and even sections of downtown are all part of this filled-in territory.
Today, about one-sixth of Boston sits on landfill. People built new land by filling in the spaces between wharves or building out into salt marshes and tidal flats, and usually constructed the new land right above the historic high tide line. Much of that created land is vulnerable to coastal flooding now that climate change is causing sea-level rise around Boston and coastal storms are becoming more frequent and intense.
To learn more about Boston’s historic coastline, visit the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library.
Coastal Flood Risk
Coastal Flood Risk
What are the types of coastal flood risk?
How and where does flooding occur?
How often will coastal flooding happen?
Coastal Resilience Planning Process
Coastal Resilience Planning Process
What is coastal resilience?
Why is coastal resilience planning important?
What are examples of coastal resilience strategies?
What does the coastal resilience planning process include?
Planning to Implementation
Since completing our coastal resilience planning, we have shifted our focus to advancing near-term priority projects beyond planning and into implementation. Our goal is to construct these priority projects that are targeted for around 2030 to address the most critical flood risk across all five of Boston’s coastal neighborhoods. The implementation process involves multiple steps, as described below. Community and stakeholder engagement takes place throughout every step.
- Planning creates the conceptual design for a strategy and outlines key criteria to be refined during later phases of work.
- Design & Engineering includes refining the conceptual strategy through site investigations (such as land surveys), engineering assessments, and detailed design drawings.
- Final Design & Permitting includes the development of final engineering and design drawings, final cost estimates, and permitting the project through local, State, and Federal regulatory agencies.
- Construction delivers the design as a finished project for the community’s use of and benefit.
- Operations & Maintenance includes the necessary efforts to maintain a state of good repair.
For more information about the coastal resilience implementation progress and how you can get involved in active projects, please visit our Coastal Resilience Implementation webpage.
PAST ENGAGEMENT
Recordings of public meetings that were held virtually during the coastal resilience solutions planning processes are available on the Environment Department’s Youtube. Additionally, physical copies of each plan are available at Boston Public Library branches in Charlestown, Downtown/North End, South Boston, Dorchester, and East Boston.
REPORT TRANSLATIONS
With support from the City of Boston’s Office of Language and Communications Access (LCA), we strived for language accessibility throughout the coastal resilience solutions planning processes in each neighborhood. Based on LCA’s Annual Demographic Data Report, we provided translation and interpretation in the top non-English languages spoken in that neighborhood. This includes:
- Translated outreach and engagement materials, such as flyers, social media content, public notices, surveys, meeting presentations, and more.
- Live, simultaneous interpretation at public meetings.
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