Embarcadero Case Study

How Will Flooding of the Embarcadero Impact the Urban Geography of San Francisco?

The mean sea level off of the coast of San Francisco has shown a clear positive increase with respect to time since 1855, according to the chart below. It is projected that the sea level of San Francisco could increase by as much as two feet in the next hundred years (National Trust for Historic Preservation, n.d.). In future years, it is impossible to deny that some of the most important coastal areas of San Francisco could be affected by rising sea levels, like the Embarcadero , a lively waterfront area at the end of Market Street in San Francisco that contributes $2.1 billion to the tourist industry (National Trust for Historic Preservation, n.d.). The map

First, the piers off the coast of the Embarcadero would be flooded and new beaches could possibly form, necessitating an urban redesign of the whole coast. Structures with cultural value like the Ferry Building and Exploratorium would be lost and very difficult to replace. If these and other large Embarcadero buildings with economic and functional value, like the Embarcadero Youth Chance High School and the Embarcadero YMCA (“Embarcadero (San Francisco),” n.d.), were rebuilt in other parts of San Francisco, residential buildings or areas might have to be demolished. Or, the new buildings could raise rent prices in the area, intensifying the issue of gentrification and homelessness within fifty years of the first floods. Within a hundred years, the city would most likely try to move San Francisco institutions and economically significant buildings away from the coast, like the Embarcadero Center, a four-tower office and shopping complex (“Embarcadero (San Francisco),”