Client:
City of Vancouver
Timing:
April 2023 to September 2025
Location:
Vancouver, British Columbia
Their challenge
The site, a low-lying parcel situated between the Cambie Bridge and Hinge Park, presents a complex planning challenge for the City of Vancouver. While the site is an important location for transit-oriented housing and high-density development, its position at the downstream end of a large catchment and its low elevation make it highly susceptible to both intensifying rainfall and coastal flooding. The existing 2007 Official Development Plan did not account for climate change or sea-level rise, leaving the City to navigate a conflict between the urgent need for housing and the long-term reality of a site that faces between 0.5 m and 2.0 m of sea-level rise over the next two centuries.
Our solution
To address this, Ebbwater led a multi-disciplinary team through a two-phase assessment and decision-support process. In the first phase, we developed an integrated DHI MIKE+ hydraulic model to characterize water movement across the site, simulating coastal, overland, and drainage network flow for present-day and future time horizons to the year 2200. In the second phase, we used these results to lead a values-driven cost-benefit analysis – working together with the City, planners, architects, and landscape architects – comparing four distinct development alternatives ranging from high-density housing with engineered protection to site naturalization and selective retreat. By quantifying the trade-offs between housing capacity, economic viability, and environmental resilience, we provided the City with a hybrid strategic direction for a rezoning proposal that sets a precedent for resilient coastal development.
Services
Flood Hazard Assessment and Flood Mapping
Strategic Flood and Disaster Planning
