Marshland Park is located on the west bank of Xiangjiang River in Changsha has a highly variable water level. Sometimes there are periods of drought from September to May of the year. On the contrary, the site suffers from river erosions inordinately during the flood season. Hence, it is a vital challenge to well adapt to such an unstable site condition.
In accordance with such a changeable site, the design team decided to adopt multi-dimensional design strategies for various local drought-resistant plants and site configurations leveled by normal, wet-season and flood waterlines, to well obey the existed natural and hydrological characteristics with seasonal changes. Accordingly, the healthy ecological circulation was well restored by the species diversity, providing ideal habitat for birds, fishes and molluscs with reasonable plant community configuration and micro-scale landform construction.
Suitable artificial devices were designed to strengthen the site’s self-reinforcement and minimize its interference. Below the water level in the flood season, the walking path on the marshland was built by water-resistant materials such as concrete and steel mesh to resist the impact of river water; the elevated grid planks and viewing platforms were built on the water, providing sufficient space for plant growth to form a natural flood channel.
Layered spaces were well designed for various leisure activities: three trails with different elevations were built to maximally meet the citizen’s requirements of leisure and viewing on different water levels. They are sightseeing trail on the top of dam, the multi-functional trial in the middle, and the promenade along the marshland. There are several “no-seat” viewing platforms stretched out of the path to encourage people to approach the beautiful nature. And five activity grounds were built on the relatively flat land to maximize the value of this urban open space even during the flood season.
This project which is the largest urban public green space in Changsha represented the completion of Xiangjiang River Scenic Belt in the city section with more than 40 kilometers. Relevant monitoring data indicated there are at least 100,000 people visiting this Section per day In July 2017, Xiangjiang River experienced the most serious flood in the past hundred years, which resulted in marshland park was almost completely inundated. However, the park revived itself promptly, effectively demonstrating the successful design of a resilient ecosystem.
Marshland Park along Xiangjiang River
Location: West bank of Xiangjiang River in Changsha, China
Project Credits:
Landscape Design: L&A Design
Design Principal：Baozhang Li
Project Director: Dayi Wen
Operation Director: Hailong Jiang
Project Manager: Wenjuan Zhang, Lin Chen
Design Team: Naiwei Xiong, Ruixue Wu, Lin Chen, Xiaoxia Sun, Qinlan Song, Rui Xie, Xin Jin
Planting Specialist: Chao Jia
Drawing Inspector：Lin Zhang
Drainage Engineer：Fengmei Liu
Electrical Engineer：Xiaolin You
On Site Engineer：Fan Luo
Photography: Tao Lin
