Resilient waterfront futures: Mapping vulnerabilities and designing floating urban models for flood adaptation on the Tiber Delta

This paper explores the feasibility of floating urban development in Italy, given its extensive coastline and inland hydrographic network. A comprehensive urban mapping process provided a multifaceted geo-referenced information layer, including several climatic, urban, anthropic, and environmental parameters. This process provides a robust framework for understanding the spatial dimensions of flood and sea-level rise impacts and supporting informed design-making. A research-by-design phase follows the simulation research and mapping process.

Several design scenarios are developed aimed at regenerating this vulnerable area. These scenarios seek to transform its susceptibility to flooding into a resilient, adaptive, urban identity, offering climate-resilient housing solutions for a population currently residing in unauthorized, substandard housing within high flood-risk zones. This paper proposes a comprehensive analytical methodology for supporting the design process of floating urban development, given the highly determinant role of site-specificity in such a challenging and new urban development approach.