The coastline of South Florida has undergone a drastic change in the last century and this has had a major impact on flood safety and natural resources of its inhabitants. Natural coastlines supporting mangrove and wetland have been transformed into seawalls with buildings. It is estimated that in the last 100 years, 40 percent of the mangrove coast and significant parts of wetland, pine forest and sea grass have disappeared. (“Florida’s Mangroves | Florida Department of Environmental Protection”, 2019). Mangrove forests stand out to be a future- oriented way of natural coastal defense for South Florida. Although they mainly appear in calm tropical waters, they can withstand and recover from tropical storms. Their unique growth habit with a characteristic root system and branching forms a robust forest, that functions as a natural coastal defense. Also, marine life is dependent on the nursery grounds provided by the root system of the trees and maintaining a healthy fish stock (Sheppard, 2018). We can learn from the past that this forest provides the land with a natural levee and protect against flooding. Also, this natural system has potential to adapt to the consequences of climate change that highly urbanized areas like Miami are already facing and which will increase rapidly in the future. This research identifies and explores design strategies and principles for the mangrove landscape of Biscayne Bay in order to reduce the flood risk of Miami Metropolitan Area, as well as provides aesthetic, ecological and functional qualities that contributes to the identity and resilience of this coastal region. This is done through design-related-research, that divides this research in two domains. Design research, which consist of a system analysis and examination of best practices and research by design, which involves design experiments. The result is a layered landscape strategy that contributes to the harmony of the natural coastal landscape of Biscayne Bay and thereby restores its functions. The systematic strategy is converted into a spatial design, applying principles gathered from best practices. This landscape architectural design adds an extra dimension to the mangrove landscape that will invite the residents of the Miami Metropolitan Area to experience through exposure to changes and value its aesthetic and ecological qualities and protective functions.

Wetlands are the most important ecosystems on Earth, which can be found in many parts of the world. However, demand for food and economic development in the last century had driven many wetlands in the world being completely drained for cultivation and to the extent that no longer retain any natural wetland characteristics such as the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) in the United States. The ongoing drainage results in large amounts of peat soil loss and following the decrease of crop production, which has brought the sunset to the agriculture in the EAA. At the same time, it is urgent in South Florida to stop the damaging discharges to the coastal estuaries, to restore the flow of clean water to the Everglades preservation area and to guarantee the freshwater supply in the whole region, which also requires the transformation of the EAA.
This thesis develops an integrated approach for returning the Everglades agricultural lands to nature in order to recover the lost ecological assets in South Florida while balancing the economic value and improving spatial quality. Water is conveyed from lake Okeechobee and adjacent agricultural lands into the restoration area to be retained and purified through bioremediation process. The purified water will be further recharged into the aquifer and restored as sheet flow into the southern Everglades. Raising the water level and connecting with the local topography create conditions for the natural occurrences. The typical landscape of subtleties varies by the centimetre of water level change is brought back and becomes a space for people to seek experience and to engage themselves with the restored natural rhythms, changing over time. This project demonstrates its potential to be expanded and replicated across a variety of agricultural contexts. It is crucial to balance the ecological and economic value, design through different scales, and include a spatial and experiential dimension during the transformation.