In the face of extreme weather patterns, a network of elevated, High-Line inspired public spaces and parks look set to turn the next generation of storm barriers into global attractions

It is an inconvenient truth that largescale, societal problems are rarely tackled unless collective hands are forced.

Those with the power and economic wherewithal to take significant action rarely do so until they are directly impacted. And then? Well, then they go big.

There is no greater example of this than how global communities are grappling with the ever-burgeoning impact of climate change on our urban hubs. Especially as it fuels a growing number of extreme weather events.

Take New York. Before 2012 there was not much in the way of a plan in place to protect the city - one of the most densely populated and financially instrumental in the world - from floods or storm damage. This was despite the fact that Lower Manhattan is particularly vulnerable thanks to it’s low-lying topography and a coastline, quite literally, open to the elements in the face of rising sea levels and more frequent storm surges.

Then, Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012 flooding 17% of the city and everything changed. The superstorm was a major wake-up call as more than 100 people tragically died, several thousand more were evacuated, more than 650,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, the New York Subway flooded, power was lost, the New York Stock Exchange closed for two days and the financial cost of the damage across the region was estimated to be $65bn.

If a catalyst was needed to force those aforementioned collective hands, this was it. The impact of the storm was so great, it completely changed the way the US federal government responds to disaster.

Read more on Well-Placed with Emily Wright