1st Edition

Waterfront Regeneration in a Time of Climate Change Recent Japanese and International Experiences

Edited By Raffaele Pernice, Tetsuya Yaguchi Copyright 2026
    280 Pages 86 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The current climate crisis and the rapid transformation of the natural environments will inevitably pose a threat to human settlements around the world. This book explores possible local strategies and global solutions in the safeguarding of coastal cities and the often-neglected urban waterfronts, in terms of a more effective integration with the city, whilst paying attention to the mitigation of the risks related to climate change.

    Designers, administrators and engineers need to start developing various scenarios and possible solutions to tackle the inevitable transformation which is currently unfolding. This edited book contains essays which discuss several themes related to the effects of climate change on waterfronts, looking at Japan’s experience and other international case studies. Collectively, they provide a multi-faceted analysis of selected projects and relevant urban experiences and practices which address issues such as the environmental disruption and the need for more efficient and sustainable forms of regeneration and urban renewal practice for the waterfronts.

    The volume will appeal architects, planners, geographers, and general readers with an interest in landscape design and social science in an international context, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the disciplines of built environment.

    List of figures

    List of tables

    List of contributors

    Acknowledgments

    Foreword

    Carola Hein

    Introduction

    Pernice Raffaele, Tetsuya Yaguchi

    Part 1 - Water and the City in the early 21st Century. Architectural and Urban Dimensions: Case Studies Japan

    1)    A Metabolist Utopia in the Crisis of a Flooded Society

    Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi, Alice Covatta

    2)    Urban life on the Water. Concepts, Models and Prototypes for Marine Habitats in Japan 1958–2025

    Raffaele Pernice

    3)    Tokyo Waterfront Urban Planning and Disaster Resilience: An Unforgettable Memory

    George Kurumado

    4)    Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning and Consensus Building in Riverfront Neighbourhoods through Risk Communication. A Case of “Nige Chizu” Creation in Totsuka District, Shinjuku, Tokyo

    Tetsuya Yaguchi

    5)    Resilience in Tokyo

    William Galloway

    6)    From Shipyards to Skylines: The Evolution of Yokohama's Waterfront

    Heide Imai

    7)    Waterfront Restoration in Yokohama after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923:Focusing on the Reconstruction of Yokohama Harbor and Canals

    Yunlian Chen

    Part 2 - Water and the City in the early 21st Century. Architectural and Urban Dimensions: Case Studies International

    8)    Venice Floods: an Urban Morphology Perspective

    Paola Favaro

    9)    Waterfront Regeneration and Vitality in Hong Kong Central

    Hee Sun ‘Sunny’ Choi

    10) Affordable Floating Communities: How can Human Life on Water be made Attractive and Socially Sustainable for Larger Communities?

    Harry den Hartog

    11) Small-Scale Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Flood Mitigation in the Tropical High-density Cities: A Case of Bangkok's Polder Areas

    Theeraporn Premchaiswadi

    12) San Francisco Waterfront Resilience Program Draft Plan

    Adam Varat, Luiz Barata

    13) Waterfronts as Shared Heritage: Balancing Heritage Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation in Metro Vancouver’s waterfront areas

    Yiting Pan

    14) Climate Adaptation in Sydney Waterfront Planning Management

    Nan Ye, Jing Li

    15) Exit the Waterfront. Enter Coastal Landscape Design: A Case Study of the Mekong Delta

    Bruno De Meulder, Kelly Shannon

    16) Reformulating Peri-urban Landscape Guidelines to Maintain Stormwater Management Capacity in Low-lying Developing Cities: a case of Phnom Penh

    Sokuncharia Srey

    Afterword

    Helen Lochhead

    Index

    Biography

    Raffaele Pernice is a licensed architect and Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia. An urban and architectural historian by training, he holds a PhD in Architecture from Waseda University, Japan and a M.Arch from the University IUAV of Venice, Italy.

    Tetsuya Yaguchi is Professor at Waseda University, Japan where he conducts theoretical research and leads urban design initiatives aimed at sustaining and enhancing the built environment. In addition to his academic work, Mr. Yaguchi actively conducts pre-disaster planning workshops for communities in Tokyo and develops disaster education programs for younger generations.

    “This is a relevant and surprising book which presents and compares some policies and practices of waterfront regeneration in Tokyo, Sydney, Shanghai, and elsewhere. It shows an international perspective with several original contributions of young scholars and more experienced academics.”

    Xiaoming Zhu, Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai.

    “As the world faces the onslaught of intensified environmental calamities, Waterfront Regeneration in a Time of Climate Change: Recent Japanese and International Experiences presents a timely, must-read compendium of perspectives to address these contemporary challenges through rigorous, multi-disciplinary analysis by architects, urban planners and designers, and architectural historians.”

    Ken Tadashi Oshima, Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle.