landscape design

Landscape Design of Urban Waterfront

J iang w en Hu ang

D esign Depart m ent, G ui l in Uni v ersit y of El ectronic T ec h no l og y. G ui l in, G uang x i,Ch ina

dis hy21@so h u.co m

Abstract

Deri v ed fro m t h e g l orious Ch inese water cu l ture, t h is artic l e ai m s to discuss t h e re l ations h ip between urban and t h e water en v iron m ent. B ased on m odern l andscape design t h eor y, t h is artic l e ana lyz e t h e pro m inent prob l e m s e x isting in t h e do m estic urban s h ore water l andscape, studies positi v e ly t h e urban s h ore water l andscape t h at suits t h e Ch inese cu l ture, atte m pts to su mm ari z e t h e urban s h ore water l andscape design m et h od t h at can eco l ogica lly m aintain t h e regiona l cu l ture.

Ke y w ords: W ater c u l t u re,W aterfront l andscape, Design p u rpose,Design principle.

1. Introd u ction

In recent years,the development of w aterfront areas in China has grad u ally become the hot spot.A lot of cities are enth u siastic abo u t developing the w aterfront areas.H o w ever,since the landscape design theory in China starts relatively late,it can not thoro u ghly improve the w aterfront environment.It is the u rgent tas k of Chinese landscape w or k ers to attach great importance on the landscape ecology theory and dra w on the advanced w aterfront landscape planning experience of foreign co u ntries,combine the relevant scientific k no w ledge,start from the ecological environment of the w hole city and respect the local c u lt u re of China so that the w aterfront landscape may serve the city better. M oreover,they shall s u m u p a set of practical w aterfront landscape design theory.The research of the paper is carried o u t on the basis of this.

2.C it y and w ater c u l t u re

2.1.Ch inese w ater c u l t u re

Water is the origin of life.it is the s u bstance that distrib u te the w idest on the Earth.It is most important physical conditions people live on.It is closely lin k ed w ith h u manity's activity.The Chinese nation w ater c u lt u re is w ell-established.In the long-term prod u ction lifecycle,Chinese people have maintained a close relation w ith the w ater.from the initial w orship of w ater, the a w e to the w ater,the ancients had transmitted grad u ally to the u nderstand,exploit,u tilize and appreciate w ater,and develop many philosophy,li k e Kong Z i’s “the w ise en j oy w ater”,Lao Z i’s “w an to be good ju st li k e the w ater”.These tho u ghts are glittering thro u gho u t in the Chinese national c u lt u re that brands deeply in each Chinese's heart's.And in the h u man development and evol u tion,people also express their u nderstanding and epiphany on w ater in vario u s methods,therefore Chinese w ater c u lt u re w ith material and the spirit u al w ealth formed[5].

2.2.C ities and t h e w ater re l ation

S ince the ancient times,the u rban development cannot live w itho u t w ater.The city depends on w ater and the w ater is the lifeline of u rban life.The f u nction of the w ater to the u rban manifests its ecological ad ju stment f u nction,the ornamental f u nction,the economical f u nction,the c u lt u ral f u nction. M any cities are formed along the w ater and thrive beca u se of the w ater.The place w ith w ater aro u nd has al w ays been the place w here nat u ral lives yearn for. Fu rthermore,the developed river system promotes the transportation, w hich f u rther develops commodity circ u lation and commercial prosperity.In s u ch a w ay,cities are formed. P eople live along the w ater and w ater c u lt u re evolves.

The w ater holds the important stat u s in the u rban space environment.Both the ancient and modern cities home and abroad often primordially consider w ater so u rce in its selection of the location.The historical city G u ilin in G u angxi,for example,chose it location w here t w o rivers meet.The bea u tif u l landscape along the rivers and the connected fo u r la k es has formed the u rban pattern w here the mo u ntains s u rro u nded w ith w ater aro u nd.Th u s the G u ilin city becomes alive w ith the w ater,and the w ater charms beca u se of the u rban inverted reflection.The city and the w ater shine on each other,w herein the u ni qu e u rban reflection c u lt u re is formed.

3.Th e v a l u e of u rban w aterfront l andscape and prob l e m in its design

3.1.Th e v a l u e of u rban w aterfront l andscape

___________________________________ 978-1-4244-3291-2/08/$25.00 ?2008 IEEE

Landscape val u e.The u rban w aterfront landscape brings vitality and artistic charm to the city w ith vario u s positive f u nctions and benefits.Each post u re of the w ater in the shore w ater landscape,li k e the tric k ling riv u let,the b u bbling spring w aterfall,the roaring river, the vast ocean,respectively manifests different vis u al effects.Therefore since the h u manity began the constr u ction activity,they developed from the passively u sing w ater so u rce to bringing the nat u re w ater into life, u tilizing the w ater to improve and bea u tify the environment.S o,in the Chinese traditional gardening nearly there is“no w ater,no garden”,w hich is the so call “w ater is the so u l of garden”.

Ecological val u e.Waterfront is the most active and most vitalistic element in the u rban landscape.as the lifeline of all the lives on the earth,the w ater environment not only maintains the w ater qu ality provides for the plant gro w th,b u t also ad ju sts the h u mit u re,scavenges the air,vac uu ms the dirt,red u ces the noise,effectively ad ju st ecological environment. This is beca u se the w ater evaporation and heat absorption may promote the air convection,bring in the s u mmer day the gentle cool breeze.Also,the w ater may assimilate into the w ater,s u pplementing the gro u nd w ater,w etting the perimeter s u rface,avoiding effectively the efflorescence of the soil and the roc k.

Hu manistic artistic val u e.The life starts from the w ater. P eople bear special inborn sentiment to w ater.As a glittering and transl u cent material,the w ater is p u re, gentle,lovely and hard.Also,the philosophy and tho u ghts w ithin have already assimilated into each domain of c u lt u re and art,li k e prose,dra w ing,m u sic, drama and so on.Together w ith the mo u ntains,the stones,the plants,the b u ildings the w ater composes colorf u l scenes.P regnant w ith profo u nd meaning connotation,it has become a prominent h u manistic landscape factor,manifesting the tr u e,the good and the bea u tif u l.

3.2.P rob l e m s facing t h e u rban w aterfront l andscape design

Along w ith the social and economical development, the constr u ction and exploitation of the u rban shore districts has become increasingly active,partic u larly since this cent u ry,many cities in China has craved in the development of the w ater shore area.Generally spea k ing,these efforts are fr u itf u l.B u t problems also exist,as in:

F e w ecological conscio u sness.S ome cities do not ecologically u tilize the land in the w aterfront development.The architect u re and the flinty s qu are in these areas bloc k the soa k ing of the rain w ater and the s u pplement of the u ndergro u nd w ater.The c u t straight of the river co u rse and the concretes di k es destroy a dynamic nat u ral landscape system.Altho u gh sometimes w e ta k e m u ch co u nt of the afforestation in the w aterfront constr u ction,w e often simply replace the original rich flora w ith the artificial afforestation, w hich ca u ses the w ater shore afforestation layers monotono u s and destroys the diverse habitats.

Accessibility absence.The accessibility is an important index in meas u ring the development of the w aterfront landscape.In many u rban w aterfront landscape w e cannot see convenient p u blic pedestrian paths to the w ater shore.With no eno u gh w ide-open s u rface,the w ater body is al w ays bloc k ed by the b u ildings and w alls.Close to the w ater b u t seeing no w ater distances people and the w ater psychologically.

Absence in c u lt u ral connotation. S ome cities neglect the local characteristics in the constr u ction of the w aterfront.They apply mechanically the s u ccess stories home and abroad,blindly p u rs u ing the so-called modernization.The civic c u lt u re is formed after a long term acc u m u lation,and the w aterfront often is the carrier of its history and c u lt u re.N eglecting the historical bac k gro u nd of the city w ill res u lt in the absence of the special characteristic of the city and its spatial identifiability,destroying the u ni qu e image of the w ater shore city,affecting the extension the u rban

c u lt u re.

4.P u rpose and P rincip l e of t h e Design of Urban Waterfront Landscape

4.1. Design P u rpose of Urban Waterfront Landscape

S ocial p u rpose.The expansion of city changes the str u ct u re of landscape and alienates people from the nat u re.S o,the people lac k the necessary and u sef u l contact w ith the nat u re.As a res u lt,the design of w aterfront landscape shall provide the chance for city d w ellers to to u ch the nat u re and w ater and protect the present w ater c u lt u re in a city,f u lly excavate and contin u e the historical and c u lt u ral characteristics of a city,and carry for w ard the profo u nd h u manistic bac k gro u nd and shape the ne w images of a city[6].

Ecological p u rpose.Ecology refers to the interactive relationship bet w een the living beings and environment. To protect and develop the w ater reso u rce of a city and provide city d w ellers w ith a harmonio u s living environment is the responsibility that can not be avoided by the city landscape design.The w aterfront landscape space shall provide the lin k for the city to contact the nat u re.Together w ith vegetation, w ater can improve the physical environment of a city,create a good ecological environment and sho u lder the responsibility of ad ju sting the ecology of a city[4].

Economic p u rpose.The w aterfront landscape space is not only a space for visiting and resting b u t also the material carrier of entertainment economy.Excellent w aterfront space w ill demonstrate the u ni qu e feat u re of a city to the people,attract visitors from other places and rise people’s entertainment and cons u mption desire, therefore,promote the development of the tertiary ind u stry,provide more employment opport u nities for

the d w ellers and create more w ealth for the city[6].

4.2. Design P rincip l e of Urban Waterfront Landscape

Ecology principle.Waterfront landscape is an important part of the open space of a city and the material carrier of the entertainment activity of city d w ellers.As the compo u nd area for the intersection of land,w ater and w etland,w ater can ad ju st the temperat u re and h u midity of a city.The vegetation can control the soil and w ater loss,eliminate noise,p u rify w ater and control poll u https://www.wendangku.net/doc/5510951693.html, u ally,in the w aterfront landscape,the biological comm u nity is characterized by complex str u ct u re and many living beings may live together.It is the green corridor of a city and an important“base” for maintaining and establishing the biological diversity of a city.

As a res u lt,in the design of u rban w aterfront landscape,effective meas u re sho u ld be ta k en.The landscape ecology principles and methods sho u ld be introd u ced to protect the precio u s nat u ral reso u rces.The overall arrangement sho u ld follo w the biological and ecological r u les; in addition,the ecological comm u nity effect of plants and w ater sho u ld be bro u ght into play to the maxim u m extent so as to provide a large amo u nt of oxygen and become the“Green L u ng” of the city; conse qu ently,red u ce the u rban heat island effect to the maxim u m extent[1].M oreover,w e sho u ld protect the biological comm u nity,maintain the diversity of living beings and try to maintain the contin u ance of the living beings chain on the land,in the w ater and the city so that they w ill not be abr u ptly c u t off by man-made str u ct u res s u ch as roads and dam.Biological corridor shall be left so as to g u arantee the migration of w ide animals and plants.This is helpf u l for the space migration and m u ltiply of species.The infl u ence to and impact on the environment of city w aterfront landscape, for example,the straightening of river and the hardening treatment of ban k shall be red u ced as m u ch as possible so that the man-made environment in the w aterfront of a city can adapt to the nat u ral ecological environment[2].

Availability principle.City sho u ld provide convenient transportation corridor that can enable the people to reach the w ater area and the sight-line corridor so that the w aterfront landscape can be“available completely”.The transportation system of u rban w aterfront area shall provide people w ith convenient transportation and attract people to the side of w ater. The transportation in the w aterfront landscape shall red u ce the interference from motor vehicles as m u ch as possible so as to ens u re the safety of w al k ing and the qu ietness and bea u ty of environment.S treet sight-line corridor shall provide more chances for the contact of man and nat u re.The sight line in certain distance shall be ens u red so that the vis u al contact bet w een man and nat u re or h u manistic landscape can be maintained and the bea u tif u l sceneries w ill not be bloc k ed.The w ater landscape sho u ld be “penetrated” to the inner part of a city as m u ch as possible.The w aterfront b u ilding sho u ld be designed to have the graded sense.By the side of w ater,some lo w-rise str u ct u res can be arranged and higher b u ildings sho u ld be far a w ay from the w ater. Fu rthermore,the arrangement sho u ld be arranged in pict u res qu e disorder so as to get the best w ater vis u al angle.By the side of w ater,some friendly and safe w ater-playing space can be deployed so that people can play and en j oy w ater.

P rinciple of respect regional c u lt u re.The plants for w aterfront landscape shall give priority to the local trees so as to display the regional character,for example,the hibisc u s of N anning,s w eet osmanth u s tree of G u ilin and H ibisc u s m u tabilis L.of Chengd u all have vivid local characteristics.Artf u l application w ill highlight the local characteristics; mean w hile,the local plants have the advantages of high s u rvival rate and lo w maintenance cost.The hard composition elements of w aterfront landscape s u ch as the ban k,footpath,road pavement and decoration,etc.sho u ld also u se local materials as m u ch as possible.The local materials can bring very stri k ing local characteristics and reflect the lang u age of landscape different from the common r u n. The design of benches,railing and indication board shall also adopt the symbols w ith the local feat u res so as to sho w the extraordinary temperament of the city[3].

The modeling of landscape shall reflect the local spirit.Therefore,the design sho u ld firstly u nderstand the history and c u lt u re and excavate the deep historical connotation of the site.The w aterfront landscape u s u ally embodies very rich historical memory.It seems that the old stone bridge,ancient shipside,the b u ilding character and decoration patterns of the local fol k ho u se, civil c u stomer and the calligraphy and poems inscription of the men of letters and refined scholars in the past dynasties are telling the history of the city.In the process of development,these sho u ld be appropriately told so as to express the regional character of the landscape,maintain the contin u ity of historical c u lt u re,recover and improve the vigor of landscape and shape the ne w image of a city.

5.C onc l u sion

The near-w ater landscape of this city bears historical memory,emitting thic k c u lt u re smell.It is a complicated integrated system,in close relation w ith the normal r u nning of city f u nctions.D u ring the city landscape design,it sho u ld ma k e scientific and reasonable layo u t on near-w ater environment,creating conditions for reaching each good performance for city; coordinate the normal operation bet w een h u man constr u ction and nat u ral ecology,setting u p a balanced ecological system; pay attention to the m u t u al connection bet w een city and w ater,h u man and w ater,ma k ing w ater system involved in the city environment; respect local c u lt u re,create local character,and the harmonio u s w ater environment bet w een h u man and w ater,city and w ater.In

expectation of f u t u re city residential landscape design,it w ill create n u mero u s high taste points for city coastal environment by regarding Chinese w ater c u lt u re, digging local character,and paying attention to ecological benefits.

References

[1] Hu Changlong,“G reening Design of A C it y”,S hanghai, S hanghai S cience and Technology P ress,2003,1,pp.7-10. [2] J apan S ociety of Civil Engineering,“W ater F ronts Landscaping” (translated by Su n Y izeng) ,Dalian,Dalian University of Technology P ress,2002,11,pp.19-21.

[3]Lin Y an,“W ater F ronts G arden Design”,Bei j ing,China M achine P ress,2008,6,pp.34-38.

[4] Xu H ao, “Th e Design Th eor y and T ec h nica l M et h ods for

C it y Landscaping”,Bei j ing,China Architect u re&B u ilding P ress,2006,2,p103.

[5] Y ang F an,“O n W ater I m ager y in S h engtang P eo m s” ,W u han,M aster thesis of Hu azhong N ormal University, 2006,p1.

[6] Z hang Ting w ei,“F en h ui and P eng Z h i q uan, Th e Design and De v e l op m ent for C it y W ater F ront”,S hanghai,Tong j i University P rsee,2002.3,p35.