2026 Theses Master's

Measuring Resilience: Mapping the Viable Space for NYC Waterfront Sustainability Evaluation

Akif, Tahreem

The existing sustainability frameworks that we apply to waterfronts — WEDG, Envision, LEED, and SITES — operate in isolation, measuring different outcomes, incentivizing different behaviors, and carrying different regulatory weight. Individually, none is sufficient to close the gap between what is currently being built and what durable and equitable waterfront design requires. The absence of coordination between them and legislation is structural, rooted in misaligned objectives and inconsistent accountability mechanisms, and is illustrative of a fundamental disconnect between design-phase aspiration and long-term performance.

This capstone argues that closing that gap does not require more framework rigor in isolation, but a coordination mechanism that brings these tools into productive alignment, and that defining the viable space between minimum floor and realistic best practice is the necessary first step toward getting there.