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from becoming dominant inside the floodways (which is seen as producing an undesir-
able reduction in conveyance capacity outside the dikes).
Finally, Dutch engineering and construction companies are experimenting with
houses on stilts in permanently-flooded polders, as well as floating houses and even
entire urban blocks in the old harbor areas of Roterdam. A pilot loating conference
center was completed in December of 2010, and plans are underway to expand this to
develop floating mixed-use blocks. These are intended for areas where a combination
of the coastal storm surge barrier (Maeslantkering) and upstream flood barriers keep
floodwaters free of debris and wave action, allowing structures to float up and down as
the river waters rise without risking structural damage. Roterdam recently issued its
second citywide Water Plan, resolving to become a “climate proof” city that is ready for
new industrial and commercial investments as a result of its enhanced stability in the
face of extreme weather. IBM has recently invested in a Global Center of Excellence in
water management located in Amsterdam, where they will showcase their ability to sup-
port water management with sophisticated sensors, gaming, and 3D internet resources
to improve flood prediction and increase the effectiveness of protective responses
2) GERMANY
Hamburg is the home of Germany's largest container port, the second largest in Europe.
Located more than 80 miles inland from the North Sea, Hamburg has had to dredge the
Elbe River significantly to allow large container ships to enter the urban port and con-
nect to rail lines and river barges. The river is diked along most of its length, raising the
elevation of tides and storm surges. The extensive dredging activity has also increased
the speed and size of annual storm surges (and daily tides) that flood the city's water-
front. Hamburg's urban core is on a high bluff, outside of the flooding area, but a new
urban residential district has been built in the old warehouse area of the port, outside
the city's dike defenses. The strategy was to build an urban district that is resilient to
flooding, and accepts these floods rather than blocking them out. Multi-story buildings
were constructed with waterproof parking garages on the first floor, along with retail
or entertainment uses. Residential uses begin on the second stories of these buildings.
A secondary circulation system was built to allow people to get around by bike and on
foot during flooding. People are able to interact safely with floodwaters in public space.
Parks were built to loat on the loods, using decks that are atached to pilings as park
surfaces. Other parks were built on land, with hardened surfaces to accept the batering
of waves. Hamburg is also beginning to experiment with moving dikes back from the
Elbe River to create more flood storage space, primarily upstream of the city and its port.
3) JAPAN
The city of Tokyo built a series of long, wide dikes along the Arakawa and Yodo rivers
in the 1990's that implemented the concept of a “superdike,” i.e., a dike that is so wide
that it cannot fail catastrophically. These superdikes were constructed during a reces-
sion as an economic stimulus. The advantage of the superdike is that, with widths of 900
feet and more, buildings, roads and parks can be built on top. The Japanese approach
was to extend property boundaries upwards through the new dikes so that the original
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