The Van Alen Institute is collaborating with the City of North Miami to announce a request for qualifications for transforming the city’s flood-prone vacant lots. The competition asks how can we reimagine underutilized communal spaces to bring the community together and adapt to climate impacts over time, and to repurpose the sites to reduce the cost of flood insurance.
Through a two-stage, seven-month competition, three finalists will be selected, and ultimately a winner will be awarded $80,000 for masterplan development, and a pilot design implementation. The submissions are to be judged by a jury of local and national leaders in climate change, design, and community engagement.
Through the competition, Van Alen and the City of North Miami hope to identify strategies to address the social and financial strains that repetitive loss properties have on the community and to speak to a broader national issue on the impact of flooding on cities.
The deadline for Requests for Qualifications, submitted here, is May 26th 2019.
The Van Alen Institute has previously participated in a range of engagements seeking to improve the urban fabric of American cities, such as their competition to redesign New York City's green trash bins and contest to shape the future of West Palm Beach, Florida.