Adapting South Tarawa to Climate Change

Abstract

Addressing climate change is urgent, and architects need a set of skills in order to design structures capable of adapting to it. One way to investigate how architects can design to adapt to climate change this is through design-led research using an extreme case (Kiribati, is one such location) where climate change is affecting the islands in several ways. Within Kiribati is the atoll Tarawa (the capital), where internal migration from outer islands has caused rapid urbanisation.

South Tarawa has a land mass of 16sqkms (Kiribati Census, 2022) and sits low to the sea at 3m being the highest point (Mulhern, 2020), Clearly this point of the atoll is at risk in regard to sea level rise and land erosion is already present. Some land accretion has occurred however in the past few decades (Webb et al., 2010). This, along with climate-induced storm surges and overtopping (when the ocean washes over the entire island) has prompted locals to construct some dwellings elevated from the ground. These dwellings are traditionally constructed from locally grown pandanus and coconut palms, debris washed ashore, and some imported materials such as corrugated iron (Whincup, 2010), however concrete and iron structures are becoming more common.

Many communities in Te Moananui Oceania rely on the surrounding ocean to provide much of their resources (Kiddle et al., 2021). Tarawa is one of these, but due to the urbanisation (in South Tarawa) and climate change issues there are significant roll-on effects with waste management, sanitation, migratory patterns of sea creatures as well as coral bleaching and ocean acidification (Johnson et al., 2015). The Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Developments (MELAD) is currently exploring land reclamation options in order to house 30,000 citizens well (Liddell, 2024), but due to the dynamic nature of the atoll (Tuck et al., 2019) and the encroachment and destruction the sea poses, a more resilient, adaptable and climate positive solution should be considered to ensure longevity of the community (culture) and atoll (ecology).

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions to address societal challenges through the protection, sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems (ICUN, 2024). This research aims to incorporate carefully selected NbS in an architectural sense that will improve, enhance, or regenerate the climate, ecology and culture while addressing the overarching issues relating to urbanisation in South Tarawa.