The redevelopment of maritime and riverfront areas is a crucial element in the transformation of many urban areas, providing a series of significant benefits for cities and their inhabitants. The presence of water, whether in rivers, lakes or seas, has historically played a fundamental role in the formation and development of many cities, intimately related to their dynamics. This relationship has changed and presented itself in different ways over time, and these spaces have often been neglected in numerous ways, particularly by a certain type of urban planning that disregarded their potential in favor of other imperatives, such as road transport and industrial equipment.
Several initiatives have been proposed in recent decades to rethink and transform many of these coastlines, previously underutilized or degraded, into active public spaces that the entire population can enjoy. These newly constructed coastal spaces can host various practices such as recreation and leisure activities, cultural events, different ways of physical exercise, and even broader contact with nature, an experience that may be rare in certain cities. Another relevant aspect of many of these projects is their role in recovering previously polluted rivers and maritime sectors, often collaborating with the rehabilitation of ecosystems and the maintenance of the environment, especially in the face of the environmental and climate crisis we are facing.
Maritime and river installations, with their significant public appeal, also come with other services and equipment. Restaurants, shops, and museums are some examples of common installation types in these spaces, which mobilize other urban sectors and can generate opportunities to encourage tourism and the local economy.
We have chosen six examples of waterfront and riverside rehabilitation projects in cities that have transformed these places into public spaces that are widely appropriated and enjoyed by their inhabitants, creating new ways of relating to these spaces.
Chicago Riverwalk / Sasaki Associates + Ross Barney Architects + Chicago Department of Transportation + Jacobs Ryan Associates + Alfred Benesch & Company
"The Main Branch of the Chicago River has a long and storied history that in many ways mirrors the development of Chicago itself. Once a meandering marshy stream, the river first became an engineered channel to support the industrial transformation of the city. Following the famed reversal of the river, in which the city reversed the flow of the Main Branch and South Branch to improve sanitation, architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham introduced a new civic vision of riverside promenades with the addition of the Wacker Drive viaduct. Over the last decade, the role of the river has been evolving with the Chicago Riverwalk project—an initiative to reclaim the Chicago River for the ecological, recreational and economic benefit of the city. The goal of embracing the river as a recreational amenity seemed impossible years ago given the river's high levels of pollution. But today that vision is becoming a reality. Recent improvements in river water quality and the increased intensity of public recreational use signal growing life along the river, demanding new connections to the water's edge."
Aarhus Harbor Bath / BIG
"Aarhus Harbor Bath provides new ways for the public to enjoy the water in all seasons. Together with urban life expert Jan Gehl, our strategy was to create a framework for maximum amount of life with the minimum amount of built substance. The harbor bath zig-zags gently into the island, extends all the way out into the harbor pool and back again. The swimmers can enjoy the circular diving pool, a children’s pool, the 50m long lap pool or one of the two saunas that are tucked underneath the public boardwalk which doubles as a viewing platform who those who prefer to stay dry. Aarhus Harbor Bath gives the residents and visitors of the island a more engaging and adventurous waterfront experience who can use the harbor bath not only in swim shorts but as a walkway that extends the public realm into the water, breathing new life into an area historically reserved for industrial purposes."
Paprocany Lake Shore Redevelopment / RS + Robert Skitek
"Paprocany Lake is where inhabitants of Tychy often spend their spare time. In the promenade neighborhood, there is a recreation center with many recreation and sports attractions. Remodeling the recreational area at Paprocany Lake is another project focused on exposing the values of the landscape and expanding recreational offers for the city's residents. This terrain was only a lawn by the road before an investment, in spite of landscape values, completely unused except by fishermen. In the first weeks after opening despite the unfavorable weather, a promenade became a place frequently visited. It became a very quickly fully working public space and a new meeting place. During the day a promenade is a place for whole families and the space for a date or contemplation in the evening."
Redevelopment of the New Coast of Thessaloniki / Prodromos Nikiforidis - Bernard Cuomo
"Our basic purpose was the complete approach of the topic, aiming at proposed operations that present continuity and coherence to a unified architectural proposal, and at the same time contribute to the regeneration of the ecosystem at the borderline between sea and city. The New Coast of Thessaloniki is a linear place with relatively limited depth and great length, a fact that offers to it the characteristics of the “front”, of the thin skin, that is inserted on the difficult and challenging limit between land and sea, between natural and constructed landscape. The design of this limit has to co-exist and converse with the water element, the most unstable natural form. Specifically, the sea background of the Gulf of Thessaloniki constitutes this amazing scenery, where the ephemeral and the mutable elements, create a different atmosphere each time."
Antalya Konyaalti Coastline Urban Rehabilitation / OZER/URGER Architects
"The main drive of the project was to reduce the domination of the highway dividing the coast and settlement behind it. For this purpose, a series of thematic focal zones were created between the port and the museum to diversify the city's existing hub system on the western coast. Another goal of the project was to strengthen the relationship of the residential neighbourhood with the coastline. The recreational, cultural and sporting activities offered to the residents of the settlements were added to the project along the coast for this purpose. The pedestrian-friendly vehicle traffic, as well as the infrastructure for a better public transport and bicycle transportation, were established in the project while maintaining the existing vertical and horizontal connections in the area. Architectural proposals that provide accessible and perceivable space for all types of users have been developed and the coastline has been reprogrammed with multiple and mixed uses including recreation, sports and cultural activities."
Minhang Riverfront Regeneration / SPARK Architects
"The Minhang Riverfront is an ambitious story of urban regeneration. A mere 24 months ago it was a decrepit overgrown riverfront faced by low grade industrial warehouses with remnants of paths, industrial and disused utilities evidence of many years of change and neglect within the district. The design of the riverfront includes continuous green ribbons of walking, jogging and bicycle tracks and 3 pedestrian bridges that link the residential, education and business communities together. The landscape was designed by layering four distinct zones that enhance views create and for the first time accessibility to the river. The linear zones take on an abstracted riparian form and house innovative pockets of activity with lawns, cafés, a sports park and event plaza."
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Water in Architecture, proudly presented by Hansgrohe.
“Water is life and our passion. And water conservation is climate protection. We at Hansgrohe are committed to making a difference in how water is considered in Architecture, with products that save water while maintaining the same showering experience.”
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