Yueqing East Canal Wetland Park, located between urban Yueqing and the sea in Zhejiang Province, transforms the East Canal from a flood drainage river into an urban ecological waterway. This project embodies the concept of a cohesive life community integrating ‘mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and cities,’ focusing on respecting natural processes and fostering ecological restoration and urban rejuvenation through comprehensive remodeling.
The park spans from sea to shore, encompassing the sea-river transition zone and terrestrial shorelines, effectively restoring the sea-river interface. It strengthens the ecological corridor along the East Canal, enhances coastal resilience, and revitalizes a healthy river ecosystem.
Transitioning from urban to marine ecology, the East Canal serves as a vital link connecting ecological breakpoints and resources. This project exemplifies ecological restoration for Yueqing’s sea-river system while enriching urban ecological quality and providing a recreational space for residents nearby.
Site Conditions & Challenges
The Yueqing East Canal Wetland Park blends diverse landscapes—mountains, rivers, city, and sea—into a cohesive urban framework. The area serves as a transitional zone highlighted by ecological features like lakes, mudflats, and seawalls. Leveraging this habitat to enhance ecosystems and showcase nature is a key challenge. Additionally, maintaining Yueqing’s mountain-sea culture while fostering a vibrant, water-friendly space adds complexity. Integrating natural features with urban culture to develop a unique wetland park is a significant task.
Design Strategies
The design respects natural processes, using a low-intervention approach for ecological reconstruction. It connects urban culture through transitions in the sea-river space. At the meeting point of rivers and sea, wind-resistant plants like Casuarina stabilize riverbanks. Ecological corridors, flood storage wetlands, and shoreline structures enhance environmental resilience and safety.
The design team focused on water quality, habitat creation, and flood discharge speed. They increased the river’s meandering and shore length, integrating channels of different widths with water features. Submerged plants like Vallisneria natans and Ceratophyllum demersum reshape the river ecology, restoring resilience to its structure.
While creating a biophilic space, distinct plant areas from water to land include Taxodium ascendens, Taxodium distichum, and Sapindus saponaria. These plants connect Yueqing’s diverse landscapes, providing residents immersive nature experiences and educational opportunities like bird watching. This approach fosters a unique urban axis and waterfront reflecting local character.
River Channel Reshaping
The design shifts from urban riverways to marine ecology, connecting ecological breakpoints. Wind-resistant plants such as Casuarina equisetifolia, Taxodium distichum, Taxodium ascendens, and Salix alba ‘Tristis’ stabilize the embankments. Various features like flood storage wetlands, floodplains, and ecological depressions are integrated to absorb rainwater during floods, reducing stormwater flow pressure on rivers and enhancing resilience. The diverse water flow patterns extend the embankment line and add chains of islands, improving water dynamics through effective flow design.
Ecological Foundation Reconstruction
Located over Yueqing Bay on migratory bird paths, the site features ecological embankments, buffer zones, river beaches, and riparian wetlands to restore the East Canal’s ecological inclusiveness. Designs of pine pile areas, ecological islands, and buffer forests provide birds with landing points, nesting, and foraging areas, attracting them to migrate, stay, and reside here.
Water-Accessible Vibrant Spaces
The East Canal connects the coast with the inland, making the park a hub for ecological education. Visitors can learn and birdwatch from the tower during migration seasons, while the park also offers marine biology classes and autumn harvest festivals for parent-child ecological learning. It features boardwalks, outdoor camping sites, a family-friendly library, and spaces for Spring and Lantern Festivals. Additionally, water activities like paddleboarding and fishing allow residents to experience the diverse transformations between water-land, wetland, and river-sea environments.
Social Significance
Yueqing East Canal Wetland Park connects the city, riverways, and sea, restoring a complete sea-river landscape system. It enhances natural functions through low-intervention methods, reshaping ecological foundations for various habitats. Wind-resistant plants like Casuarina equisetifolia and Taxodium species strengthen embankments against wind, tackling climate change and stabilizing the ecosystem. This revitalizes the sea-land relationship and enhances Yueqing citizens’ connection to marine and fishing cultures.
The park features diverse activities such as festivals, cultural experiences, and natural education, reflecting aquatic habitat characteristics. It narrates Yueqing’s fishing culture through birdwatching towers inspired by traditional fish baskets and floral bridges with dragon carvings. The park exemplifies public life and coastal landscape restoration, emphasizing the bond between land and sea cultures.
Yueqing East Canal Wetland Park
Location: Yueqing City, Zhejiang Province
Project area: 817,349 m2
Designer: Zhejiang University Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd. ThinkCity Design Group Co., Ltd.
Designer: Gao Fei, Ye Xingxing, Cao Yue
Design team: Xia Yu, Zhou Yan, Tang Dandan, Yu Ting, Liu Yunzhu, Wang Long, Cong Huilin, Sun Minghui, Wang Sisi, Wang Chunxi
Client: Yueqing Lecheng Central City Development and Construction Management Committee
Landscape construction: Huayi Ecological Garden Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Shibang Construction Co., Ltd.
Photography copyright: Chill Shine Qiu Wen Sanying
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