Winner of the 2024 WLA Student Awards – Honour Award in the Concept – Analysis & Planning category
Due to the influence of climate change and human factors, problems related to the Aral Sea have occurred frequently. Most regions worldwide have been affected by salt dust to varying degrees. This study focuses on three administrative divisions near the Aral Sea Basin, aiming to curb the issues of salt and alkali in terms of ecology, industrial structure, and human settlement safety from the source.
Through data and literature analyses of factors such as geography, humanity, and ecological information, three areas with high, medium, and low levels of salt and alkali problems were identified. Corresponding to the goals of restoring regional ecology, stabilizing the production and livelihood of residents, and maintaining the sustainable development of water areas, zoning planning and design were carried out, and different recovery and development models and strategies for the three types of characteristic lands were proposed.
In the high-salt and alkali area, salt-planting grass bricks were utilized first to control salt dust and create a favorable living environment for plants. Secondly, different planting methods were adopted for the cultivation of salt-tolerant plants. Digital interaction was also employed to encourage residents to collectively protect the ecology. In the medium-salt and alkali area, the focus was on the transformation of agricultural production, and new industrial technologies were introduced to expand the tertiary industry and achieve the intensive development of salt and alkali-affected villages.
In the low-salt and alkali area, the influence of salt damage was relatively small, and some fishery economy and economic crop cultivation were still maintained. The current ecological situation was favorable, and it required continuous protection and development. In this area, standardized ecological protection management was formulated, and new production and breeding models were introduced to promote the development of characteristic industries.
Among the three regions, a mutual circulation is formed during development. Approaches such as establishing an ecological protection system, promoting joint efforts by all, restoring residents’ production and livelihood, and protecting existing water areas are implemented to prevent the aggravation of salt and alkali problems and rescue the Aral Sea.
Saving the White Aral Sea
Tao HUANG, Huazhong Agricultural University Landscape Architecture
Yishan CHEN, Huazhong Agricultural University Landscape Architecture
Xinyi CHEN, Huazhong Agricultural University Landscape Architecture
Xin LIN, Macau University of Science and Technology Landscape Design
Supervisor：Jizhong SHAO, Huazhong Agricultural University
