Urban Waterfront Planning and Design

Our waterfronts are among the most cherished and valuable assets within our communities. They serve as hubs for recreation, commerce, transportation, tourism, and environmental stewardship, often creating competing demands for limited waterfront space. At the same time, rising sea levels, increasing storm impacts, and evolving regulatory requirements are making waterfront planning more complex, requiring thoughtful, forward-looking solutions that balance community needs, resilience, and long-term sustainability.

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As communities increasingly invest in resilient waterfront redevelopment, GZA helps clients transform waterfronts into vibrant, accessible, and sustainable destinations through practical, innovative solutions that can be successfully implemented in the real world. Our multidisciplinary team of planners, coastal engineers, landscape architects, environmental scientists, and stakeholder engagement specialists works collaboratively from visioning and planning through permitting, design, and construction, so that projects are aligned with client goals while remaining practical, buildable, and permittable. This integrated approach has supported the successful delivery of waterfront parks, promenades, ferry landings, shoreline stabilization projects, public open spaces, and mixed-use waterfront developments. With more than 18 professionals holding Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG) credentials, GZA brings nationally recognized expertise to creating resilient, community-focused waterfronts that enhance public access, strengthen connections to the water, and adapt to future challenges.

Hazard, Resilience & Adaptation Planning

Hazard vulnerability assessments including coastal flooding and sea-level rise
FEMA flood mapping
Coastal flood pathway and inundation planning
Sea-level rise adaptation strategies
Resilient neighborhood master planning
Resilience scoring and WEDG readiness assessments
Emergency response planning
Grant applications and funding strategies
Cost recovery planning
Monitoring and adaptive management planning

Technical & Design Services

Coastal modeling and metocean design
Floodable parks and adaptable open-space systems
Landscape architecture for parks, playgrounds, and paths
Multimodal hubs integrating pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and ferry access
Floodwalls, seawalls, bulkheads, revetments, piers, floating docks, landings, and boardwalks
Living shorelines, living seawalls, living tidal pools, marsh creation, and marsh enhancement
Hybrid shoreline solutions integrating nature-based and urban elements
Site civil engineering and stormwater management
Post-storm recovery planning

Environmental, Policy & Community Support

Site assessment and remediation
Ecological surveys, habitat assessments, biological monitoring, benthic surveys, and baseline documentation
Wetland delineation, coastal resource mapping, regulatory boundary confirmation, and functional assessments
Coastal policy guidance, regulatory alignment, resilience standards, and municipal coastal frameworks
Stakeholder workshops, community visioning, resilience planning, and public-facing coastal education
Public outreach, communication strategies, public meetings, and consensus building
Funding strategy support, partnerships, cost recovery planning, and implementation roadmaps
Funding strategy, grant writing and application support
Environmental engineering