San Francisco Bay Reimagined began with Embarcadero Reimagined, when JRDV was asked by a longtime San Francisco leader and the advocacy group Docomomo to prepare a design for Embarcadero Plaza, where the preservation of the Vaillancourt Fountain was the central issue. During this process it became immediately apparent that any waterfront urban improvements needed to be accompanied by a comprehensive approach for climate adapation as the harbor already encroaches the surface of The Embarcadero.
San Francisco Bay Reimagined is JRDV Urban International’s proposal to help resolve possibly the greatest challenges that the Bay Area will ever encounter. If not addressed immediately, rising sea levels will make much of the region uninhabitable and undermine its prominent position in the world’s economy.
San Francisco Bay Reimagined is inspired by the strategy taken in Copenhagen, Denmark. Instead of raising all buildings and streetscapes along its historic waterfront, the city will instead reclaim land at the harbor mouth to create controllable and strategic tidal defense points. This was chosen as a far less disruptive and less expensive solution.
We believe this centralized approach is a better alternative to the political challenge of coordinating a consistent response between the 29 separate municipalities that line the bay in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties. An incremental approach will take far too long and involve too many separate initiatives. One analogy would be if 29 people were tasked to build a balloon together and expect it to ever hold air.
Denmark’s approach to creating sea rise adaptations also includes a detailed financial plan where the cost of the improvements is paid proportionally according to who will benefit.
San Francisco Bay Reimagined proposes to build 2 sea barriers, one between the San Francisco Embarcadero and Treasure Island, and the other between Treasure Island and the Port of Richmond.
Beyond these 2 sea barriers, it is proposed that the northern waterfront between the Cruise Ship Terminal and Fort Mason be raised as part of the redevelopment of Fisherman’s Wharf. The Marina will need its own solution, much like tidal defense work in progress on Treasure Island. So will Marin County and the rest of the North Bay.
The engineering basis for San Francisco Bay Reimagined is proven by barriers and locks in the Netherlands, where the major ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam are also well below sea level. Major geo-engineering projects in the Netherlands like the IJMuiden lock (the world’s largest), or Maasvlakte 2 seawall, establish that tidal protection is possible even while maintaining access for the world’s largest container ships.
See also Embarcadero Reimagined describing JRDV’s proposed redesign of Embarcadero Plaza.
Master Plan and Urban Transformation
Year:
May 2026
Client:
Pro-Bono Project
Team:
JRDV Urban International
