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Should waterfronts showcase 'green urbanism'?
Around the world waterfront redevelopment has become a multi-billion dollar industry driving new concepts in building design and new thinking about sustainability. Cities that once used their waterways for effluent and industry are now well into the process of remediation, revitalisation and recycling or retrofitting old structures.
In Europe engineers at the European Space Agency have put forward an entirely new concept in sustainable housing construction - the Space House.
Although there is no requirement for the Space House to be built on the waterfront, if it is constructed there it can actually withstand a flood. In fact the dwelling is designed both as a response to environmental concerns and the increasing challenge of global climate change.
It is designed to withstand earthquake vibrations of up to 7 on the Richter scale, wind speeds of 229 km/h, 3 metre floods - and the ferocity of the average Australian bush fire.
In South Korea landscape architects have retrofitted an entire island to give Seoul a unique recreational area while in southern England the principles of retro-fit have been applied to an 11th Century water mill and have achieved some surprising environmental results. (Download TransScan October 2004 for details)
Here in Western Australia the East Perth Redevelopment Authority is expanding its interests in riverside development with its newly announced "Gateway Masterplan" to create an integrated "urban village" for 6000 residents between the Swan River and central business district. The 40 hectare project will incorporate principles of sustainability - particularly in its variety of housing types, emphasis on public transport and the encouragement the plan will give for having people live and work in the same area.
But the rush to waterfront living is not coming without controversy. For example, in the US where developers are expected to invest "half a billion dollars" over the next five years in new waterfront community projects, fears are being raised that insufficient spending is being allocated to waste water treatment.
In fact the American Planning Association (APA) has issued a warning that unless more is done to keep water systems clean, the US will face a serious environmental problem within a decade.
"While urban rivers are still generally cleaner today than they were in the 1970s, cities and developers have reason to be concerned about two worrisome trends: enforcement of federal clean water laws and regulations and decreased investments in sewage infrastructure nation-wide," says the APA.
"Because funding for waste treatment is not keeping up with growing populations and aging systems, EPA officials warn that sewage levels - and odours - in urban rivers could return to 1970s levels by 2016."
The APA has just issued a set of best practice principles for waterfront developments in the hope of averting the problem.
But the urban rush to the water's edge is also opening new debate about just what should be built along waterways. One New Zealand urban planner believes the foreshore should be made a proving ground for a whole new generation of urban technology and building design.
Dushko Bogunovich, Associate Professor of Urban Design at Auckland's university of technology, Unitec, believes the time has come to reverse the trend of handing over waterfront land to nothing but recreational use and new housing.
He thinks that if "green urbanism" is going to succeed then demonstration projects showcasing sustainable developments need to be built where they can best be seen - on the waterfront.
He has made the case in a commentary published by The New Zealand Herald reviewing Auckland City Council's new long-term policy for city development.
Assistant Professor Bogunovich says that as cities are driving much of the world's environmental troubles, they will need radical redesign, redevelopment and retrofitting if the problems are to be solved.
He says many of those changes will come about through new environmental technologies - and already eco-technology is the fastest growing sector of the global economy, he says.
Now he wants Auckland to embrace the trend - and set aside waterfront land for demonstration projects in sustainability.
"The uses could range from research and development and marketing departments of companies in eco-technology and eco-building innovation, to unconventional, experimental and self-sufficient housing, surrounded by landscapes constructed to demonstrate zero-impact urban infrastructure," he says.
