IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p4103-d181519.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban River Transformation and the Landscape Garden City Movement in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shuhan Shi

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • G. Mathias Kondolf

    (Collegium—Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France
    College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Dihua Li

    (College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Abstract

The practice of enhancing existing rivers and creating entirely new waterscapes has exploded in China over the past two decades. In our study of 104 randomly selected cities across China, we identified 14 types of river projects based on grey literature reports and their appearance on sequential aerial imagery, falling into three categories: ‘engineering’, ‘waterfront spaces’ and ‘ecological’ projects. ‘Waterfront spaces’ is the most common (60.5%), followed by ‘engineering’ (28.7%) and ‘ecological’ (10.8%). Using multiple stepwise regression, we found that the types of projects undertaken were strongly influenced by factors such as climate, social-economic setting, and ‘Landscape Garden City’ designation. Designation as a ‘Landscape Garden City’ was correlated with ‘waterfront spaces’, but not ‘engineering’ and ‘ecological’ projects. We found that cities in drier climates (as measured by ‘precipitation minus evaporation’) constructed more projects and they included many projects that impounded seasonal rivers to create year-round water bodies. Based on our results, we conclude that Chinese cities are still in the process of ‘decorating’ rivers, and that the ‘Landscape Garden City’ designation promoted such ‘decorating’ projects, especially ‘linear greening’ projects and ‘public spaces along rivers’. The results also demonstrate that the new river projects in China are often at odds with the local climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuhan Shi & G. Mathias Kondolf & Dihua Li, 2018. "Urban River Transformation and the Landscape Garden City Movement in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4103-:d:181519
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4103/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4103/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Federico Caprotti & Robert Cowley & Ayona Datta & Vanesa Castán Broto & Eleanor Gao & Lucien Georgeson & Clare Herrick & Nancy Odendaal & Simon Joss, 2017. "The New Urban Agenda: key opportunities and challenges for policy and practice," Urban Research & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 367-378, July.
    2. Aude Zingraff-Hamed & Markus Noack & Sabine Greulich & Kordula Schwarzwälder & Karl Matthias Wantzen & Stephan Pauleit, 2018. "Model-Based Evaluation of Urban River Restoration: Conflicts between Sensitive Fish Species and Recreational Users," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-27, May.
    3. Keith Bassett & Ron Griffiths & Ian Smith, 2002. "Testing Governance: Partnerships, Planning and Conflict in Waterfront Regeneration," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(10), pages 1757-1775, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tianlin Zhai & Jing Wang & Ying Fang & Jingjing Liu & Longyang Huang & Kun Chen & Chenchen Zhao, 2021. "Identification and Prediction of Wetland Ecological Risk in Key Cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt: From the Perspective of Land Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Pedro Molina Holgado & Lara Jendrzyczkowski Rieth & Ana-Belén Berrocal Menárguez & Fernando Allende Álvarez, 2020. "The Analysis of Urban Fluvial Landscapes in the Centre of Spain, Their Characterization, Values and Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-30, June.
    3. Xiao-Jun Wang & Xiao Wei & Xin Chen, 2022. "Morphological Suitability Analysis of Urban Greenspaces with Rivers: A Case Study of the Lixiahe Riverine Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Ling-Qing Zhang & Wei Deng & Jing Yan & Xiao-Hong Tang, 2019. "The Influence of Multi-Dimensional Cognition on the Formation of the Sense of Place in an Urban Riverfront Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Yirong Luo & Zhisen Lin, 2023. "Spatial Accessibility Analysis and Optimization Simulation of Urban Riverfront Space Based on Space Syntax and POIs: A Case Study of Songxi County, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Lihua Chen & Yuan Ma, 2023. "How Do Ecological and Recreational Features of Waterfront Space Affect Its Vitality? Developing Coupling Coordination and Enhancing Waterfront Vitality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-18, January.
    7. Han Zou & Chen Chen & Wei Xiao & Lifu Shi, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Evolution Relationship between Water Systems and Historical Settlement Sites Based on Quantitative Analysis: A Case Study of Hankou in Wuhan, China (1635–1949)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Lulu Chen & Yi Liu & Hong Leng & Suning Xu & Yichen Wang, 2022. "Current and Expected Value Assessment of the Waterfront Urban Design: A Case Study of the Comprehensive Urban Design of Beijing’s Waterfront," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Pedro Janela Pinto & G. Mathias Kondolf, 2020. "The Fit of Urban Waterfront Interventions: Matters of Size, Money and Function," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Jing Wu & Xirui Chen & Shulin Chen, 2019. "Temporal Characteristics of Waterfronts in Wuhan City and People’s Behavioral Preferences Based on Social Media Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-37, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Kovacs-Györi & Pablo Cabrera-Barona & Bernd Resch & Michael Mehaffy & Thomas Blaschke, 2019. "Assessing and Representing Livability through the Analysis of Residential Preference," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Daamen, Tom A. & Vries, Isabelle, 2013. "Governing the European port–city interface: institutional impacts on spatial projects between city and port," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 4-13.
    3. Shuangqing Sheng & Wei Song & Hua Lian & Lei Ning, 2022. "Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, November.
    4. Jonathon Taylor & Andy Haines & James Milner & Mike Davies & Paul Wilkinson, 2018. "A Comparative Analysis of Global Datasets and Initiatives for Urban Health and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    5. IOVINO, Giorgia, 2017. "Waterfront Urbani: Approcci Rigenerativi e Visioni di Città," CELPE Discussion Papers 148, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    6. Roberta Sonnino & Helen Coulson, 2021. "Unpacking the new urban food agenda: The changing dynamics of global governance in the urban age," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 1032-1049, April.
    7. Biancamaria Torquati & Giulia Giacchè & Tiziano Tempesta, 2020. "Landscapes and Services in Peri-Urban Areas and Choice of Housing Location: An Application of Discrete Choice Experiments," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Khan, Muhammad Salar & Jamil, Kamil & Malik, Ammar A., 2022. "Delivering Urban Mass Transit—The Case of Lahore, Pakistan," SocArXiv 2zj8m, Center for Open Science.
    9. Kamila Borsekova & Samuel Koróny & Peter Nijkamp, 2022. "In Search of Concerted Strategies for Competitive and Resilient Regions," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 607-634, September.
    10. Michael Keith & Eugenie Birch & Nicolas J. A. Buchoud & Maruxa Cardama & William Cobbett & Michael Cohen & Thomas Elmqvist & Jessica Espey & Maarten Hajer & Gunnar Hartmann & Tadashi Matsumoto & Susan, 2023. "A new urban narrative for sustainable development," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 115-117, February.
    11. Crecentia Pamidzai Gandidzanwa & Muchaiteyi Togo, 2022. "Adaptive Responses to Water, Energy, and Food Challenges and Implications on the Environment: An Exploratory Study of Harare," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Ingrid Vigna & Angelo Besana & Elena Comino & Alessandro Pezzoli, 2021. "Application of the Socio-Ecological System Framework to Forest Fire Risk Management: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Khushboo Gupta & Wenwen Zhang & Ralph P Hall, 2021. "Risk priorities and their co-occurrences in smart city project implementation: Evidence from India’s Smart Cities Mission (SCM)," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(4), pages 880-894, May.
    14. Simon Joss, 2018. "Future cities: asserting public governance," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-4, December.
    15. Andreas Exner & Livia Cepoiu & Carla Weinzierl & Viviana Asara, 2018. "Performing Smartness Differently - Strategic Enactments of a Global Imaginary in Three European Cities," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2018_05, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    16. Chien, Herlin & Saito, Osamu, 2021. "Evaluating social–ecological fit in urban stream management: The role of governing institutions in sustainable urban ecosystem service provision," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    17. Anna Kosovac & Michele Acuto & Terry Louise Jones, 2020. "Acknowledging Urbanization: A Survey of the Role of Cities in UN Frameworks," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(3), pages 293-304, May.
    18. Xinghua Feng & Chunliang Xiu & Jianxin Li & Yexi Zhong, 2021. "Measuring the Evolution of Urban Resilience Based on the Exposure–Connectedness–Potential (ECP) Approach: A Case Study of Shenyang City, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-22, November.
    19. Matthew Cohen & Geoffrey Habron, 2018. "How Does the New Urban Agenda Align with Comprehensive Planning in U.S. Cities? A Case Study of Asheville, North Carolina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
    20. Aude Zingraff-Hamed & Mathieu Bonnefond & Sebastien Bonthoux & Nicolas Legay & Sabine Greulich & Amélie Robert & Vincent Rotgé & José Serrano & Yixin Cao & Raita Bala & Alvin Vazha & Rebecca E. Tharme, 2021. "Human–River Encounter Sites: Looking for Harmony between Humans and Nature in Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4103-:d:181519. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.