To help achieve the mission of a more resilient city, the BPDA created a Coastal Resilience Delivery team in coordination with the BPDA's Real Estate Department. Building off of Climate Ready Boston planning, this team will act immediately to protect Boston's coastline and residents from climate change. It will prioritize projects, secure rights-of-way, seek out funding through grants or creative financing mechanisms while working with the City's Chief Financial Officer, identify and design solutions to implement resilience plans and lead public-private partnerships in cooperation with landowners and other parties. The Coastal Resilience Delivery team will work with the Environment Department and other city, state, and federal agencies to align efforts on protecting Boston from coastal flooding and sea level rise. In addition, as this team grows and establishes strength in addressing coastal resilience, the team should use its tools and expertise to also advance real estate actions to address other resilience challenges such as mitigating heat island effects or increasing equitable access to open space.

The BPDA will continue to leverage its portfolio of publicly-owned land and its expertise acquiring and redeveloping property to advance the new mission addressing Boston’s most critical challenges including climate resilience. To fulfill our objective of utilizing public land for public good, the BPDA's Real Estate team will continue to work closely with communities to ensure that developments on BPDA-owned land meet these challenges.

Additionally, the BPDA will closely coordinate with other City cabinets (e.g., Housing, Environment and Open Space, Equity and Inclusion, Human Services, Public Health, Streets, Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, and Arts and Culture, etc.) to create opportunities for these partners to advance their work. Wherever necessary, the BPDA is instructed to use its real estate expertise and tools to assist all departments in the City of Boston with executing their community development objectives.

Initiatives

• CNY Flood Mitigation Planning & Feasibility Project
• Long Wharf Flood Mitigation Planning & Feasibility Project
• RLFMP Flood Mitigation Planning & Feasibility Project
• City of Boston Resilient Fort Point Channel Infrastructure Project
• Dorchester Resilient Waterfront Project at Tenean Beach / Conley Street
• East Boston Resilient Waterfront Project
• Coastal Flood Resilience Guidelines & Zoning Overlay District (Article 25A)

Resources

• Climate Ready Boston
• Coastal Resilience Solutions for Downtown and North End
• Resilient Boston Harbor Vision
• BPDA Flood Resilience Design Guidelines
• Climate Resilience Design Standards and Guidelines for Protection of Public Rights-of-Way