Foundation Grants to Rework Waterfront in Argentinian City

05.31.2019

Contact: Mukul Verma, mverma@braf.org, 225-362-9260

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has approved a $75,000 grant to Tulane University and The Water Institute of the Gulf to support their work in developing a plan to remake the waterfront in Quilmes, Argentina.

Tulane’s School of Architecture and the Institute will provide the needed coastal science and urban repair advice that policymakers, scientists and designers in the Quilmes-Rio de la Plata region of Argentina need to reinvent their coastline. Tulane and the Institute will advise on the leading projects currently under consideration by Quilmes and its more than half-million inhabitants.

Quilmes wants to transform an area of slaughterhouses and heavy industries along the coast into communities that include a diverse mix of incomes. The new waterfront is envisioned to include affordable housing and public places, such as parks and plazas.

Scientists and land planners from Tulane and the Institute will review the current conditions and the impact of potential interventions to develop scenarios for the city and its residents to consider. These scenarios may include changes to existing land-use plans and working to develop a unified vision for the entire waterfront to achieve the long-term vibrancy of the city.

“This grant continues our belief that the best water science in the world is coming from Louisiana, and the solutions should be shared to benefit the thee billion people who live on shifting coasts around the world,” said John G. Davies, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. “The grant also supports the researchers and urbanists from Tulane and The Water Institute as they build their young partnership.”

The Foundation started the Institute to provide independent science for implementing the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. Now a stand-alone science institute, it has expanded its work around the planet, offering solutions to rising seas and vanishing wetlands in Fiji, Vietnam, Chile, with more recent collaborations with science organizations in Israel, Netherlands, France and Samoa.