PROJECT STATEMENT
Houston, one of the most populous tourist cities in the U.S., is well known for its developed economy and astronautics industry, but is faced with a serious problem, that is, inundation. Many people were killed in urban floods there every year. This project aims to alleviate this phenomenon and turn the threat into an opportunity. We plan to transform Houston into a tourist city famous for its water entertainment where tourists could enjoy themselves in Houston whether in rainy season or dry season based on the Amphibious Houston concept and elevated and sunken strategies. The design is on the basis of extensive analyses of flood-prone areas and areas most in need of rescue services. These proposed strategies can not only help with flood relief efforts but also increase the attractiveness of the city. This project is worthy of adequate consideration because it provides a new approach to urban flood management and expands the role of landscape architects in urban flood systems.
PROJECT NARRATIVE
Its planning area covers the entire land area of Houston. Houston is vulnerable to flooding for the following reasons: low-lying coastal plains, clay-based subsurface, frequently hurricanes and rapid growth without zoning regulations. Floods have brought disaster to Houston, killing many people every year. Reducing the death toll from flooding is an urgent issue for Houston now. Many construction strategies have been proposed to control flooding and thereby decrease deaths, but they often cost a lot and lack consideration for environmental sensitivity and sustainability. In this context, we set out to explore a new method that is able to alleviate this problem while considering the cost and ecological benefits from the perspective of landscape architects. Through Arc GIS, we collected and analyzed a large amount of environmental and social data, and produced flood planning maps, green space maps, soil maps, bayou maps, existing elevated and sunken highway maps, etc. During this process, we came up with three strategies based on a lot of analysis of the flood-prone areas and the areas most in need of rescue services in Houston: offering amphibious options, building elevated highways and using sunken strategies. Amphibious options include amphibious buses, automobiles, bicycles, etc. According to our research, many rescuers are flooded because traditional rescue boats are not covered and not strong enough so that they are easy to be overturned by hurricanes. Amphibious vehicles could not only ensure the safety of rescuers but also provide a way for people living in flood-prone areas to save themselves. Elevated highway construction includes the construction of highways above the existing highways or just on the flat ground and will be used for downstream river basins. It is very helpful for evacuation during hurricanes and very necessary for low-lying areas. Sunken strategies refers to the construction of sunken roads or highways in the upstream watershed. It could be used as a reservoir when a flood occurs. Besides, we could also build sunken highways near the bayou, which helps to drain the water. This is our basic approach to dealing with the inundation in Houston, highly relevant to amphibious options. Through a SWOT analysis of them, we then found great opportunities to use these strategies. That is, Houston, can vigorously develop its tourism industry, and attract investment to make up for the cost by integrating these three strategies. We made a comparative study with Venice. Based on our analysis, some of the land areas in Houston will be submerged in the future decades as sea levels rise, and it would be more feasible and worthwhile to develop submerged entertainment rather than spend a lot of money on infrastructure in these areas. Houston and Venice are both famous tourist cities. Venice has already launched some amphibious bicycles in tourist-heavy areas and has received good feedback. Moreover, cars are not allowed to run in the downtown of Venice. Boats are the major means of transportation connecting different important infrastructures. Therefore, according to our projections, our new approach will not only reduce the number of death from urban inundation but also create a calling card for Houston and raise fiscal revenue like Venice. What is more, with the development of inundation entertainment, Houston could accelerate its transformation into a tourist city, reduce the use of automobiles, and eventually become a car-free city with a good ecological environment. To achieve this goal, we developed an Amphibious Houston concept. Amphibious options could be used for flood relief services during flooding and for tourist attractions without flooding. Amphibious options could help to connect elevated highways and sunken highways or roads, which greatly increase traffic capacity when flooding occurs. This project consists of three periods: reclaim, connect and develop. In the first period, sunken highways and roads could be built, providing amphibious options for significant places, like airports, urban landmarks, etc. Amphibious vehicles could serve as sightseeing vehicles for these places during the sunny season and as rescue services for nearby areas during the hurricane season. In the second period, if amphibious vehicles operate in a good mode, more amphibious vehicles will be put into use, serving more places connected to important transportation nodes. In the third period, elevated highways could be built at a high cost but are very important for some lower-terrain areas. By far, amphibious options could perform its largest function, linking elevated highways with sunken highways. By doing this, the transportation system in Houston will be much more efficient and people will be less likely to get stuck on highways when evacuating during a hurricane. Factors contributing to Houston’s flooding include rising sea levels, storm surges, and precipitation. A specific area may be affected by more than one factor but they all have one major factor. Therefore, we proposed different strategies for different influencing factors. Areas that are greatly influenced by precipitation are more suitable for more amphibious vehicles, areas that are greatly influenced by sea-level rise will be supposed to construct elevated highway, while areas that are greatly influenced by storm surges are not suitable for elevated highways but can be equipped with more amphibious buses. Then through the overlapping of relevant environmental and social maps we collected, we select a specific site to practice our strategies. Lots of co-benefits could be gained by using our strategies at different phases. The major innovation of our project is that we not only want to decrease the loss caused by inundation but also expect to turn its down side into an opportunity, thus changing the direction of Houston’s future development. Indeed, it is a very complex task, and many further studies will be needed if truly implemented. We hope this project will be a beneficial exploration of Houston’s inundation and future development modes.
Finally, this project could be evaluated from these aspects:
1.) Will this project help alleviate Houston’s inundation?
2.) Could this project decrease the death toll from city inundation in Houston?
3.) Can this project be implemented?
4.) Is this project worth considering economically and ecologically?
5.) Are there similar successful cases that could be used to prove its feasibility?
Frequent flooding in Houston, Texas causes street inundation, which can be fatal.
