The City of Miami and the Miami Downtown Development Authority asked the Urban Land Institute to conduct an Advisory Services panel to provide recommendations for addressing waterfront resilience and mitigating the effects of sea level rise along Biscayne Bay and the Miami River. They asked the panel to focus on four key areas: design, finance, policy and implementation. As a part of the five day process, the panel toured sites along the bayfront and riverfront and interviewed over 80 stakeholders. The panel came up with strategic, independent recommendations that take a holistic approach to resilience for the urban waterfront with specific recommendations around waterfront design guidelines, infrastructure finance, community engagement, and leveraging past plans and studies into actions moving forward.

Summary of Recommendations

• Embrace legacy of the waterfront through design to protect from water, live with water, and create value from water.
• Return to Miami’s history and embrace sensitive transit-oriented development (TOD) on the ridge for future growth.
• Bring existing plans and visions together, act on strategies, and evaluate outcomes.
• Pursue a portfolio of financial strategies to become the world leader in resilient finance, investment, and construction.
• Reduce uncertainty for the community and private market through predictability, transparency, and accountability.
• Incremental actions can lead to transformational changes.

Caption: Miami riverfront as seen during the ULI Advisory Services panel study area tour.
Credit: Lauren Callaghan/ULI

Use a living shoreline demonstration project to build consensus, engage stakeholders and experts, and highlight opportunities. Credit: Jay Valgora