Peer City Case Studies

The Elliott Bay Seawall Project analyzed waterfronts in six peer cities, both locally and around the world, and summarized lessons from these projects to potentially inform seawall design. Each case study examines the following:

• Seawall or shoreline protection
• Habitat
• Public use along the shoreline edge (recreation and/or urban design)
• Design and construction

The six waterfronts were selected for their similarity to Seattle in context, issues, ecology, or urban setting:

• Olympic Sculpture Park - Seattle, Washington, USA
• Vancouver Convention Center - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Juneau Waterfront - Juneau, Alaska, USA
• Chicago Shoreline Protection project - Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Waterfront Toronto, East Bayfront - Toronto, Canada
• Västra Hamnen - Malmö, Sweden

Each case study concludes with "lessons learned" and a resource summary for further investigation. As the Elliott Bay Seawall Project proceeds, additional research may be conducted around specific issues, such as seawall and revetment design and detailing, waterfront and urban design, habitat features and sustrates, habitat illumination, biological monitoring, and recreational opportunities.