McHarg describes the New Jersey Shore as a place whose development was unsuitable and vulnerable to periodic storms. Unfortunately, in late 2012 we witnessed the results of that vulnerability when Hurricane Sandy devastated the New Jersey coast. It could be argued that activity on the shore was an unsustainable process. Notably several small sections of the shore were not destroyed by the storm, in large part because they had existing or recently restored sections of dunes. Dune ecosystems, as described by McHarg in The Sea and Survival, absorb much of a storm’s destructive forces. Can we then consider them a sustainable solution to the shore’s problem of vulnerability to storms? Consider Timothy Allen (et al)’s five-point strategy for sustainability from Supply-side Sustainability (2003), and how closely it mirrors the geodesign process:
- Manage for productive systems rather than their outputs. The geodesign process is designed to gather information about a place as a means to inform decisions (exploratory) or to evaluate decisions (anticipatory). The process enables the designer to understand work within the existing strengths and weaknesses of the landscape’s system. Restoring a dune ecosystem enables a system that is successful at deterring the negative effects of storms. It is more valuable and efficient to enable a successful system than to focus on repairing the damage of an unsuitable system.
- Manage systems by managing their contexts. The argument for valuing a place’s context should be clear. Implementing a suitable change relies on understanding the context of a place. A dune ecosystem is responsive to the shore’s context, mainly its location in an environment where storm have happened and will occur again.
- Identify what dysfunctional systems lack and supply only that which is lacking. This idea is equivalent to an offensive strategy. Historic context tells us that the shore is a dysfunctional system that is vulnerable to periodic storms. What the shore lacks is a barrier (Hadon’s strategy: separation by imposition of a material barrier) or a means to dilute the storm’s force (Hadon’s strategy: modify appropriately the contact surface). The creation of a levee or a dune ecosystem fulfills these needs, though we will see below that the levee option may be unsustainable.
- Deploy ecosystem processes to subsidize management efforts, rather than conversely. Equivalent to a defensive strategy, this idea advocates for self-sustaining processes that support managing a problem (note that the solution does not have to be a natural ecosystem). A levee requires maintenance and reconstruction after damage, all of which requires subsidized resources. A dune ecosystem, especially in cases where it can be protected instead of constructed, requires minimal effort to maintain an enduring protection from storms.
- Understand the problem of diminishing returns to problem solving. Geodesign is problem-solving process. It seems contradictory that the process would be considered unsustainable. However, what this axiom is describing is how poorly informed decisions that yield unsuitable changes inevitably require readdressing the problem in the future or create new problems. This process is degrading to the place. A dune ecosystem establishes a sustainable solution and should minimize the need to seek new strategies in the future.