Harbour Village Bonaire

Harbour Village is a luxury resort on the west coast of Bonaire. The designated area for this urban development surrounds Saliña di Vlijt, a largely dehydrated watertide. This area presents various environmental problems and ecological challenges. The Saliña has a limited water storage capacity, which means there is a risk of flooding. The showpiece of Bonaire is the coral reefs, damaged by the floods. This is due to the high sediment and nutrient load in the water of the Saliña. The developed integrated water management plan offers opportunities for urban development taking into account the ecological values.

Sustainability and resilience

Witteveen+Bos has developed an integrated plan for the urban development of Harbour Village based on two guiding principles; sustainability and resilience. The plan introduced measures to provide good water quality and optimal ecological values in the Saliña and the coral reefs in the sea. All this with a view to improving spatial quality and supporting urban development. At the same time, the proposed measures minimise the amount of tidal waves caused by extreme rainfall.