NYC AND CPH: PARTNERSHIP GUIDE BUILDING RESILIENCE TOGETHER INTRODUCTION Partnerships do not just fall from the sky – they This document serves as a blueprint for city-to-city require time and dedication from all partners. City- collaboration, using the New York City - Copenhagen to-city partnerships have the potential to accelerate (NYC-CPH) partnership as an example. It provides climate resilience and innovation. Establishing key insights in the establishment, accomplishments partnerships takes time and resources but provides and lessons learned and presents next steps and rewards at the end of the rainbow, if managed recommendations for peer-to-peer collaborations. appropriately. Participants at NYC-CPH kick-off meeting in March 2016 at Queens Museum, NYC 2 BACKGROUND The partnership between New York and Copenha- lenges after both cities had been impacted by natural gen had its early beginnings in 2013 when a CPH disasters. The primary aspiration was to enable the delegation visited NYC to look for opportunities for cities to learn from one another and in turn share knowledge exchange, partnering and a platform for findings with other cities around the world facing providing Nordic Solutions within the field of climate similar climate related challenges, especially flooding. change adaptation and resiliency planning. It is the aim of this Blueprint to inspire and guide other cities in building efficient and fruitful partner- Later in 2015, the two cities signed a 3-year Memo- ships for increased knowledge sharing on resiliency randum of Cooperation (MoC) for the purposes of planning! exchanging knowledge on solutions to climate chal- On October 29th, 2012, New York On July 2nd, 2011, Copenhagen experienced City was hit with Superstorm Sandy, a “Cloudburst” event in which they received which caused roughly $19 billion almost 6 inches of rain within a 2-hour in damages as a result of 80 mph peak wind speeds duration causing nearly $1 billion worth of and flooding in 51 square miles or 17% of the city’s damages. In the wake of this event it became evident total land mass. Although NYC has experienced storms that Copenhagen needed a better way to manage of greater magnitude in the past, Superstorm Sandy stormwater that inundated the city during extreme exposed the city’s vulnerability to coastal storms. precipitation events. In response to Sandy, NYC built off of its 2007 In response Copenhagen issued a “Cloudburst sustainability plan, PlaNYC, and developed special Management Plan” in 2012, which set forth a strategy initiatives for rebuilding and resiliency to provide to utilize a mix of gray and green systems to absorb additional protection for New York’s infrastructure, and convey stormwater from these heavy rainfall buildings, and communities from the impacts of climate events. Currently, Copenhagen is working towards change. A Stronger, More Resilient New York – a implementation of 300 projects that aim to work as roadmap for producing a truly sustainable 21st century a networking for conveying stormwater and better New York - was the result. managing flooding. 3 4 NYC-CPH COLLABORATION The NYC-CPH partnership had different scopes ment plans. While there are long term strategies to and expressions in the two cities, depending on the address flooding, such as sewer expansion, it became local challenges and opportunities. Below is a short evident that there was an opportunity to comple- summary of each. ment those projects with innovative, site-specific solutions, such as bluebelts and green infrastructure. New York City In 2016 NYC Department of Environmental Pro- Through the study, specific opportunities for in- tervention were identified within the study area to tection (DEP) hired the CPH-based consulting firm, provide retention and conveyance for extreme con- Ramboll, to provide insight into ways to advance cli- ditions, while offering community and environmental mate resiliency and traditional stormwater solutions benefits in normal conditions. to mitigate inland flooding and accommodate future increase in rainfall intensity through integration with NYC Housing Authority’s South Jamaica Houses was ongoing urban planning and development with a identified as a pilot area for Cloudburst Manage- focus on multi-functionality. ment. The pilot represents a tremendous opportu- The Cloudburst Resiliency Planning Study built upon nity for implementation of cloudburst management Ramboll’s experience and the NYC-CPH partner- by blue-green infrastructure (BGI) that can play a ship. It applied the methodology used to develop prominent role in flood relief within the community, the CPH Cloudburst Management Masterplans to a while enhancing the community’s aesthetics and so- NYC landscape. The Cloudburst Resiliency Planning cial and physical connectivity by providing numerous Study analyzes best-available data related to NYC co-benefits. rainfall projections, recommends methodologies for incorporating findings into ongoing resiliency The area of St. Albans, suffering from chronic flood- planning initiatives, and identifies best practices for ing, was identified as a another pilot area for Cloud- integrating climate change projects in future neigh- burst Management. A planned upgrade of St. Albans borhood-specific planning studies. pumping station could be optimized to integrate BGI typologies, thereby providing co-benefits and cloud- Southeast Queens, which spans over 3,200 acres and burst management. Site specific concepts were de- is home to approximately 110,000 people, was select- ed as a study area based on its history with chronic Visualizations of cloudburst management flooding and already ongoing infrastructure invest- in neighborhoods in CPH and NYC 5 signed to convey water from areas of 177th Street, pared for the growing risks due to climate change. 178th Street and the south end of 112th venue to reduce the peak flows and provide buffer volumes in Copenhagen the catchment area. In late 2011, the City of Copenhagen started work on its Cloudburst Management Plan. The work was In the 2018 OneNYC Progress Report, the cloud- divided into socio-economic and technical studies burst approach developed through the NYC-CPH consisting of calculations of systems needed to partnership was recognized as a measure under “Vi- handle large amounts of water, cost benefit analyses sion Four: Our Resilient City” for NYC to improve its ability to manage and treat stormwater, including Participants at workshop in New York sketch during extreme weather, and to ensure that it is pre- ideas for cloudburst management 6 and a definition for a new level of service required • The European Water Frame Directive: Like the for handling stormwater on the surface. The devel- Clean Water Act, the European Water Frame Di- opment of the Cloudburst Management Plan was rective calls for a reduction in sewer overflows carried out in the following steps: and other measures to improve water quality in both marine and freshwater systems. 1. Division of Copenhagen into water catchments based on topography and overland flows paths. There are many similarities, both in terms of bar- riers and opportunities in the legislation and reg- 2. Approval of the citywide Cloudburst Manage- ulation, between the two cities. The cooperation ment Plan and development of catchment specif- has provided an important insight in the ways of ic cloudburst masterplans. overcoming barriers and even turning some of them 3. Development of the “climate neighborhood”: into opportunities – e.g. the Legal Grade concept Piloting of adaptation solutions with a special in NYC which can provide the basis for regulating focus on their potential to also provide urban street levels in CPH space improvement and neighborhood revitali- zation. The lessons learned, especially in relation to mainte- nance and operation, of the first implemented BGI After the City Council’s approval of the catch- cloudburst projects in CPH, e.g. the cloudburst road ment specific masterplans, the city and the utility of Saint Annæ Square in the heart of city, has served co-developed the implementation plan, breaking as key insight for NYC to advance their work within each catchment masterplan into individual projects, BGI in the city across and between multiple agen- including descriptions of the hydraulic measures and cies. In addition, the strong visions set out by CPH the potential for urban space improvement for each early on in their climate adaptation agendas, which project. have proven to be highly effective and successful, have also served to inspire NYC to think in similar In terms of barriers Copenhagen was challenged by approaches. the following legislation and regulations: Furthermore, the City of Copenhagen started • Storm and Wastewater Management: In Den- preparation of a storm surge masterplan during the mark, storm and wastewater management is collaboration period. This was issued in 2018. NYC’s regulated through the “Water Sector Act” post-Sandy experience from disaster relief projects which describes the framework and financing of and resiliency planning has served as important wastewater management, in which stormwater inspiration for CPH’s work on the Storm Surge is included. In 2012, the legislation was changed Management Plan. to allow for financing through water fees. 7 CITY-TO-CITY EVENTS Kick-o workshop: Coastal resiliency CPH’s PPP model NYC-CPH climate and future neighborhoods collaboration Signing Co-benefits Green roofs and of MoU through climate green infrastructure adaptation 2016 2017