Previously polluted by the city’s industrialization and urbanization, Dasha River is now restored to its role as the city’s “mother river”, to nurture the mind and body of Shenzhen citizens. AECOM’s multi-layered design for the riverside land, integrates vegetation, themed places, and cycling lanes and pedestrian walkways to connect people to them.
Shenzhen residents see the Dasha River as their “mother river.” Unfortunately, the pollution from rapid economic development and increasing population in the past few decades far exceeded Dasha River’s capacity, which resulted in a sharp increase in the overall pollution level, and the river became black and stinky. As a result, residents gradually forgot the fun of living by the water, and the river had become distanced from the city and the neighborhood.
From the ecological point of view, the Dasha River is an integral ecological corridor between the mountains (the Yangtai Mountain-Wutong Central Mountain) and the coastal belt in the fundamental Shenzhen ecological pattern “Four Belts and Six Corridors”. Given its importance, relevant government departments have given the critical priority to manage the river pollution condition in recent years, which has achieved remarkable results. As part of the overall pollution control and restoration project, and since the water quality of the Dasha River gradually improves, the government moves on to focusing on ways to uplift the river landscape and reconnect the people back to river while reducing flood risk.
Inspired by its heritage, culture and urban characteristics of Shenzhen, AECOM’s plan for Dasha River created a high-quality public landscape space to enhance the city’s ecological environment and rejuvenated Shenzhen with vibes and different layers of dynamics. Such design not only improved the quality of the existing waterfront vegetation, features and facilities but also by reconnecting bicycle lanes and walkways on both sides of the river, it created a comfortable pedestrian experience along the river and a sense of inclusiveness linking the different pocket spaces in the area.
In the Dasha River project, AECOM’s holistic approach and multi-disciplinary consideration resulted in a comprehensive solution that not only ensured the water quality and flood control of the Dasha River but also created a cohesive ecology and a series of multi-theming public spaces that reconnect the originally fragmented urban areas.
Dasha River Ecological Corridor, Shenzhen
Services Provided by AECOM
Landscape Architecture
Architecture
Ecological Design
Water Design
Lead Designer and Project Team Lenren Lee, Stone Shen, David Gallacher, Wen Sheng Liang, Yi Lee, Kun Wu, Ben Luo, HsuehNeng Chuang, Chun Wei Rivera Huang, Clytze Yi, Rachel Hu, Xihui Liu, Lilian Liang, Xiaoxiang Vito Qiu, Weiguang Gu, Jun Li, Lu Sun, Qiao Da, Fengmin Zhu, Chao Jiang, Zhifei Zhang
Client: Shenzhen Nanshan District People’s Government
Partner: China Resources Land Ltd.
Design & Completion Year
2017-2019, construction completed in 2019
Photography | ©Jiang Dan, Zhang Xuetao unless captioned
