Wetlands are at the same time among the most productive and the most threatened ecosystems of the world. One of the major threats for wetlands is urbanization. In the urban context there is a long history of associating wetlands with a number of water-related diseases, floods, pollution and poor living conditions.
Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a paradigm shift in the attitude towards wetlands: the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has promoted the importance of new concepts of wetland management in order to reduce health hazards by highlighting the many positive wetland values from the perspective of nature conservation. At the same time, engineering has broadly introduced the concept of constructed wetlands and biofilters as a way of effectively trapping and removing the pollution from stormwater runoff, wastewater and polluted river water. Linking the ecological and technical dimensions and integrating them with the high aesthetic and recreational value of urban wetland parks, landscape architecture has developed fascinating concepts demonstrating the high potential of an integrated strategic approach to the recovery and creation of wetlands in the urban context. This paper brings together these different perspectives on urban wetlands and argues by discussing different case-studies how wetlands can take a prominent role in urban ecosystems.
Landscape performance, as defined by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, is “the measure of efficiency with which landscape solutions fulfill their intended purpose and contribute toward sustainability.” It is becoming a popular research focus in recent years; and its theoretical framework is built upon the sustainability triad: environment, economy and society. Through the quantification of environmental, economic and social benefits of a built landscape, its performance can be determined. This paper presents results from a landscape performance investigation and the lessons learned from a 3,200-acre master planned community that employs a treatment wetland system and naturalized landscapes. The research team identified environmental, economic and social metrics, and then collected data that reveals the performance results of the installed systems. Water quality, soil fertility, and herbaceous plant diversity were investigated. In addition, the research team quantified potential and actual benefits, including sequestration of carbon dioxide, and cost savings through the use of reduced mowing, fertilizer use, and reduction of irrigation with potable water. Environmental, economic and social benefit results are discussed. Lessons learned from management and maintenance issues during and post construction phases are summarized.
Healthy soil performs important functions in regulating water volume and controlling water quality. However, overlooking such dynamics between soil and water often leads to design misassumption and water system failure. For instance, the compacted soil and disturbed soil profile result in poor water retaining capacity and increased surface runoff. The organic matter loss decrease soil’s effectiveness at binding and breaking down nutrients and sediments, which further pollute the water system. To incorporate soil sciences in design and construction processes, implementing a soil management plan is suggested. The best soil practices for water system includes 1) Protecting soil structure to conserve hydrological performance; 2) Avoiding and amending soil compaction to increase water retaining capacity; 3) Conserving and restoring soil performance in water cleansing.
Ecological water system design is an approach to ecological engineering that intervenes natural processes and regulates the living environment through human intervention. This article discusses the scope of ecological water system design and the relationships between water systems at different scales. Citing several built projects, this paper illustrates how to construct ecological water systems, while also analyzing the instructive significance of ancient water management to current methods of ecological water system design.
The fundamental purpose of the comprehensive utilization of urban stormwater is to improve the cycle of local hydrology, and respond to local water issues. Most of urban engineering facilities cannot avoid considering human uses and needs, because a city is a concentrated area of human activities. However, this point is often overlooked by the traditional design in engineering. In this paper, two people-oriented design strategies of comprehensive stormwater utilization are proposed: adaptive strategy and protective strategy. Moreover, it summarizes the design solutions for different strategies to further promote the comprehensive stormwater utilization in cities to establish a harmonious relationship between human and water.
Using the discipline name of “Landscape Architecture” as a framework, this article addresses five questions: Why did “Feng Jing Yuan Lin Xue (风景园林学)” become the Chinese name for the discipline of landscape architecture during the national disciplinary adjustment? What is the concept of “Discipline” and the significance of “Landscape Architecture Academic Community”? What is the future trajectory of landscape architecture in China? What are the key issues that need to be addressed by landscape architecture in China? And what kind of landscape architecture does contemporary China need?
The project launches a systematic planning for the Dianchi Lake pollution treatment. An ecological security pattern is set up and 35 rivers flowing into Dianchi Lake are taken as ecological water purification system and filters. The stormwater collection system, bio-habitant network, cultural heritage and greenways for bicycles and pedestrians are integrated as an ecological infrastructure to solve urban water environment problems in a comprehensive way. It adjusts the land use surrounding the greenway system, and attempts to maximize the benefit of ecology, citizens and economics through river ecological restoration, rain sewage management, improvement of land use efficiency. Finally, Panlong River, the mother river of Kunming, would be revitalized to be peaceful, beautiful, healthy and active.
The design of Xixi Village is a project guided by the Low Impact Development principles. Through collaborations between landscape architects and engineers, an integrated stormwater system has been created within a community’s outdoor space and water features, providing a showcase of environment-friendly development. Through the process of this project, issues of collaboration between architects, landscape architects and engineers were exposed and addressed. Longstanding practices of stormwater management must be challenged to assure sustainable development that would reduce flooding, improve water quality and enhance overall living quality.
The recent construction of the Wuhu commercial and cultural district created a dynamic commercial space while also establishing an ecologically functional landscape nestled within a high-density urban area. Using a series of low-cost methods such as stone gabions, bioswales, and native planting, the design successfully turned 3.2 kilometers of undeveloped land with poor soil and consistent flooding into an active and popular urban park, providing a vegetative leisure space for the local community.
The old brook Scheybeek is made visible in the park. The brook has been staged together with the new pedestrian and bicycle paths in the extended spaces in the park. A game of meeting and disappearing takes place between the visitor and the stream. The stream’s profile is composed from a specially designed concrete element and a natural embankment. The sweet brook water flows out into a pond of brackish North Sea water at the bottom of the dike. The unique salinity originating from this exchange of water is the perfect place for flora and fauna specific to brackish water.
The master plan for Vathorst in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, was developed by Kuiper Compagnons and West 8, highlights that the landscape is not an afterthought or a beautifier to urban development, but is considered a vital entity in itself and an active component of the plan.The master plan was designed in the tradition of old Dutch canal cities, using waterways as organizing elements rather than roadways, allowing Vathorst to be an active water city.
The design of Water Square Benthemplein is an innovative twofold strategy that combines water storage and improves the quality of urban public space. Most of the time the square is dry and used as a recreational space for youth sports and play. When confronted with heavy rainfall, the square changes from its usual appearance and function, becoming a temporary rainwater storage facility. Three basins were designed to collect rainwater: two undeep basins will receive water for the immediate surroundings and one deeper basin will only receive water when it is consistently raining.
As a conjunction of tidal dynamics and rapid urbanization, 340 square kilometers of the derelict aquacultural landscapes on the Chao Phraya Estuary offers a fresh opportunity for a landscape architectural intervention in addressing multiple challenges of urban expansion, decaying ecology, hydrologic fluctuation, freshwater supply, food production and waste. Water is an active agency. Introduction of tidal process is an urban program device that reactivates diverse ecological performances, underpin economics, and drive urban transformation over Bangkok’s intertidal landscape. Creation of levels and hydrologic distributaries aims to engage adaptability to multiple water regimes rather than control or work against it. Bangkok, the city in the monsoon estuary must be soft, absorbent and adaptive. The operative strategies of this project can be applied to the remaining hydro and agro network to build a new landscape infrastructure that performs mixed hydro-ecological functions and responses to environmental shifts in diverse range of times and spatial scales.