Erosion Urbanism

Erosion Urbanism proposes an alternative urban planning to grow the atoll islands of Kiribati, which are threatened by current climate pressures.

Erosion Urbanism

Kiribati is composed by a series of atoll islands which stand isolated and scattered along the Pacific Ocean, extending almost as much as the United States. Current climate pressures, driven by anthropogenic effects, threaten the sustainability of this nation: sea level rise is washing its shorelines; coral bleaching is erasing the natural foundations that originate these islands; the perpetuation of planning, extraction, and exploitation of these atolls from the first world are increasing their state of emergency. Erosion Urbanism presents an alternative urban planning to grow the atolls islands, thus increase the habitability of Kiribati. This is done through a common understanding between our living and natural environment. In this sense, landscape design is set to regenerate the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs and mangrove forests, reinforcing the existing atoll and even generating new land; urban planning extends along the shoreline as an additional layer to control erosion, and recovers traditional forms of organization such as the Kaainga due to the sense of community union; architecture recovers the Kia Kia as a construction unit given its usage of local materials such as the palm tree, thus reinforcing the local economy. These interventions contribute to the absorption of greenhouse gases within the frame of blue carbon initiatives, making of them an appealing investment for first world nations to counter the excess in carbon emissions that their lifestyle produces.