Reclaiming the landscape of Dujiangyan Meritxell Ferrando Casas, Spain
VISION OF THE CITY
“Dujiangyan has an undeniable bond with the water. The river is
Sustainable Urban Dynamics
an icon for the city.”
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In Dujiangyan, as a city that has been shaped by water, the connections along the river are well-established, however; the ones across the water are missing. Furthermore, zooming in on our site and understanding that the water is the most important feature in the city, the inhabitants are not connected with the river. The water of the river flows very fast and makes a lot of noise. Also, it is always separated by walls, so there is not a direct connection between the people and the river. The main point of my project is to connect both areas across the river. I think it is really important to have a city well-connected to the old town, the main station and the most important infrastructures and buildings. So, my proposal is to establish a perpendicular connection through new water canals. In this way, we can slow down the water of the main river and create new public spaces improving the quality of the inhabitants’ life and their relationship
with the river. Also, in the previous analysis we found some hidden canals on our side so, we can connect the new ones with the existing ones. Creating these small water canals we have the opportunity to take advantage of using the water for sustainable functions, such as water management to water the plants, to avoid flooding and for storm water management solutions. Also, trying to create a self-sufficient city we can implement solar panels to generate energy for the houses. Finally, at the site there are some brown fields which are a consequence of the earthquake in 2008. These areas are empty and polluted. In these spaces the new water canals can flow freely taking up part of the green public space. So, another main point of the project is to recover these areas as main connections, too. In the future some parts of these areas will be mainly intended to construct buildings.
