IDEA: THE LIVING WATERFRONT
Description:
Terrain was one of five firms worldwide invited to develop a conceptual master plan transforming the east bank of the HuangPu River, which flows through the heart of Shanghai, from largely privatized lands to an interconnected public waterfront. For the 21 kilometer/13 mile reach, Terrain developed the idea of the living waterfront, a new generation of urban waterfronts that provides continuous light rail, biking, jogging and walking connectivity, parallel to the river, through a system of woven ecologies. These woven ecologies restore and renew natural systems, integrate cultural and recreational activities for people, and provide resiliency interventions responding to potential climate change and subsidence impacts. Eight destinations were envisioned along the waterfront, each with a different set of attractions designed to activate the waterfront by drawing in people of all ages at all times of the day. The living waterfront creates a socially active and environmentally responsible linear park for PuDong, one that will endure in poetic contrast to the urban waterfront that defined the historic PuXi side of the HuangPu River. The living waterfront and linear park will accelerate the transition from a manufacturing-based economy into a consumer-based one, by attracting the best and brightest industries, those who will lead the way for China.
Role:
Conceptual Master Planning
Client:
Shanghai East Bund Investment Group Co. Ltd.
Consultants and Collaborators:
Greenearth Operations, Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Crystal Information Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Ronji Landscape Design Ltd.
Date Complete: May 2016
Area: 635 acres (254 hectares)
Sustainability:
Passive Flood Control, Sea Level Rise / Subsidence Resilience, Pollutant Filtration, Carbon Sequestration, Water Quality Enhancement, Material Re-use, Re-purposing Existing Structures, Aquatic and Wildlife Habitat Creation, Biodiversity, Green Public Transportation, Walking and Biking Connectivity Reducing Dependence on Fossil Fuel- based Mobility, Mixed-use Development, Waterfront Connectivity