Stitch the City and River: Yunyang Waterfront Green Corridor

Yunyang County town is located on the bank of Three Gorges Reservoir. As the old county town has been submerged under the reservoir, the new county town began to be built on the present site from 1992. Thanks to the rapid urbanization process, it has a population of more than 200,000 today. A tourist county, Yunyang is home to a famous temple, a 13th-century fortress and a beautiful natural landscape.

With the wish to transform the landscape of the urban waterfront area, the local government planned to build a coherent urban waterfront green corridor and park system upon the existing parks, wastelands and hillside lands, and make rational use of the huge hydro-fluctuation zone. Landscape architects made an overall plan for the 33km urban waterfront area, and designed the 10km section in the centre of the county town as the first step of the whole project.

Yunyang Waterfront Green Corridor will ultimately connect series of green spaces via the 33km slow-traffic system along the riverside. As the first phase of project, the 10km urban section based on the hydro-fluctuation zone, wasteland, former wharves and warehouses, existing parks and plazas, has effectively stitched the city and the Yangtze River, greatly influenced the life style of the citizens, and apparently benefited local tourism economy. Being adaptive to the shifting of reservoir water level, the proposal presents resilient landscapes and offers resilient functions. It is a green infrastructure that is gradually transforming the city and represents a new framework for urban development.