Toward a New Coastal Model for Living with Water in Osaka Bay under Climate Change
Flood control and waterfront access are unknowingly compatible.
We conducted a study on coastal space reorganization in five wards along the Osaka Bay waterfront, together with students from the University of Shiga Prefecture in Japan.
This video presents a student-driven design exploration focusing on one of those wards—Minato Ward. It is characterized by the following three key features:
First, it is a thought experiment that sets aside immediate feasibility and instead imagines an ideal future coastal landscape that we should strive for.
Second, rather than limiting the scope to the waterfront, the proposal expands inland, aiming to restore connectivity between the urban district and the water as an integrated spatial system.
Third, it does not merely depict the physical transformation of space. Instead, it envisions how such spatial reorganization might be activated and sustained through decentralized, grassroots behaviors rooted in everyday life.
We invite you to explore this experimental animation as a window into new possibilities for living with rising seas—where adaptation, connection, and imagination come together in the design of coastal futures.
Please take a moment to watch how these students have reimagined the relationship between the city and the sea—with creativity, courage, and care for the future.
This research is supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research JP21K05656.
