Fostering climate resilience for an underrepresented community in Washington, DC

Established in 1873, Ivy City is a historically Black residential community that became surrounded by industrial uses over time. Today, the residential neighborhood coexists with industrial uses, including a railway, active and former warehouses, and major thoroughfares, as well as a large maintenance facility for the Department of Public Works. Over the last decade, Ivy City has grown into a neighborhood in transition as former warehouses are converted into apartments and commercial establishments catering to customers outside of the historic community, creating housing affordability and displacement challenges for an already underrepresented community.

Vulnerable populations in Ivy City are facing serious challenges related to air quality, displacement, safety, and housing affordability as well as a consistent increase in record-breaking heat waves, sudden storms, and heavy flooding.

Partnering with the District of Columbia's Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), Empower DC (a local community advocate), and Moody Graham Landscape Architects, Ramboll developed a climate resilience strategy to enhance Ivy City’s resiliency and mitigate urban pressures from climate change. While the strategy is focused on the impacts of flooding and urban heat, it also seeks to provide community co-benefits such as improved open space, empower community members to improve their own resilience to climate change.

The resilience strategy is based on analysis of current conditions of the area, modeling of urban heat and flooding, and robust community engagement to co-develop strategies that directly address community priorities and needs. The strategy includes a neighborhood-wide network of site-specific projects to address flooding from cloudburst events and determine the best placement of heat mitigation measures within the Ivy City neighborhood.

Additionally, the plan emphasized the co-benefits associated with adapting for climate change – such as improving access to recreation, improving air quality, and increasing tree canopy.

Creating liveable community spaces

The resilience strategy includes a reimagining of Lewis Crowe Park, one of Ivy City’s few park areas and only public green space. Lewis Crowe Park is prone to interior flooding, has minimal shading, and needs upgraded recreational amenities. The Ramboll team provided conceptual designs to transform the park into a multifunctional resource that helps to mitigate flooding and extreme heat, while also providing improved open space and responding to a co-created community vision for future usage.

Seeking the community’s input

Given Ivy City’s history of social and environmental justice concerns, and to ensure residents have a voice in the planning process, public engagement has played a critical role throughout in shaping the final recommendations. The final plan will address climate resilience alongside health and environmental justice concerns raised during community consultations and will be available to the public through DOEE.

Turning plans into reality

The Ivy City Climate Resilience Strategy was developed as an active tool to help the Washington, DC and community members implement the plan. Ramboll evaluated flooding using multiple tools, including Scalgo to assess surface flooding, and the regions integrated flood model to understand how future investments in stormwater infrastructure could impact Ivy City, including both local sewer infrastructure and upstream cloudburst plans. The plan also includes a construction phasing plan to help prioritize flood and heat mitigation projects within the network based on location in the watershed, potential for flood mitigation, and alignment with complementary capital projects.

Learn more about the project on the dedicated DOEE website.