Shanghai Houtan Park - 8a Biennal 2014

kongjian yu

Shanghai Houtan Park: Landscape as a living system

Built on a former industrial brownfield, Houtan Park is a regenerative living landscape on Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront, a narrow linear 14 ha band. It’s constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial materials, and urban agriculture are integral components of a sustainable design to treat polluted river water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way,
The site has multiple challenges including the degraded environment, polluted river water, flood control requiring over 4 meters of floodwall protecting 1000 year flood event. The objective was to transform the brownfield into a public park at the same time demonstrates sustainable urbanism and green technologies.
A linear constructed wetland was designed between the 20 and 1000-year flood event levees to treat contaminated water from the Huangpu River. Cascades and terraces covered with selected species of wetland plants are used to oxygenate the nutrient rich water, remove sediments while creating pleasant water features. 2,400 cubic meters of water can be treated per day from Lower Grade V to Grade III. Crops and native plants were selected to create a productive and low maintenance landscape. The design preserve, reuse and recycle the existing industrial structures and materials on the site to celebrate the site’s industrial past.
The park has been proven to be a great success in many aspects including providing native habitats for biodiversity, recreational use as well as demonstrating ecological solutions to cleanse water and manage floods.

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