Papers by Johanna Hoffman
In Fall 2010, a partnership between the University of California-Berkeley and the cities of Alban... more In Fall 2010, a partnership between the University of California-Berkeley and the cities of Albany and Berkeley completed the third of four restoration phases planned for a 0.6-mile stretch of Codornices Creek in Alameda County, California, between the San Pablo Avenue and UPRR crossings. Originally initiated in the mid-1990s to improve a straightened and channelized ditch, the project objectives were to convey the 100-year flood, improve user access to the creek, and establish an ecologically valuable riparian corridor dominated by native species (reducing invasive non-natives). We assessed the performance of the third phase of the project during a high flow of 136 cfs on October 5, 2011. We obtained relevant data and information from project designers, and on October 22, 2011, while evidence of the high flow was still fresh, we conducted a detailed topographic survey of the channel, surveyed high water marks, documented conditions with photographs, and mapped site conditions. In addition, we surveyed cross sections and high water marks in the downstream reaches (Phases 1 and 2 of the overall restoration project). High water marks show floodplain inundation was inconsistent throughout the three reaches, with the October 5 storm flow largely staying within the constructed banks in Phase 3, and overbank flow occurring in Phases 1 and 2. Our longitudinal profile shows Phase 3 incised up to 2 ft below the design grade in the upstream portions of the reach, and aggraded up to 2 ft at the downstream end. Survey results also confirm that additional vertical channel adjustment occurred during the October 5 flow. This, along with the presence of an active headcut, suggests that the channel is still in the process of finding geomorphic equilibrium. Cross-section monitoring in Phase 3 should proceed into the future to determine whether channel adjustments continue, and as a basis to assess whether more complexity should be introduced to promote aggradation, channel complexity, floodplain inundation, and more ecologically valuable habitat.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
Even as calls for more participatory urban planning have grown over the past half century, achiev... more Even as calls for more participatory urban planning have grown over the past half century, achieving meaningful and effective participation remains elusive. While disciplines beyond urban development are experimenting with narrative-driven engagement toolsets to cultivate greater degrees of public investment and collaborative capacity, less exploration on the power of such tools has been conducted in urban development circles. Toward the objective of reconciling the challenges of community engagement with the growing uncertainties and inequalities of contemporary cities, this paper explores the value of aiming beyond participatory planning toward co-production, and assesses the role of worldbuilding, a design approach with origins in fiction, in doing so. Specifically, the worldbuilding methods implemented in a project to envision dense urban environments in 2070 is positioned within growing calls for urban development to move toward co-production. The paper contributes to the wider...
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Papers by Johanna Hoffman