A Room for Water

Abstract: Floods are the most frequent hazard that affects around 2.3 billion people each year. This natural disaster can occur in every continent and human activity has been contributing to the increasing adverse impacts of flood events. This urban design proposal explores the possibilities of creating a sustainable area that can work alongside floods. The projects site is located in Morelia, Mexico. The city suffers from floods and every year it affects around 76 neighborhoods located near the river bank. The proposal looks towards the creation of a proof of concept that can be reproduce in different locations along the river to reduce the negative impacts of flooding. The areas should give space for the water and at the same time be developed and offer recreational spaces that can be enjoyed by the city inhabitants. There are three main strategies use to achieve these: Re-Naturalize, Re-Build and Re-Connect. The strategies basically create an area that can allow flooding while cleaning water, developing water resilient typologies and creating accessible public spaces for the city.