Hongshan Lake Civil Park – A Ecological Generator for Urban Public Space
The project located in the Xixiu District, Anshun, Guizhou Province, is the tourist distributing center of the city with rich tourism resources. The site covers an area of 14.7 hectares, is close to the old town and only 1.2 kilometers from the tourism destination. It could be a high-qualified tourist attraction due to the regional advantages and positive effect of the interaction development with the commercial plot on its west side.
Challenges and Opportunities
There are different types of terrain with vertical changes, of which the maximum height difference is about 16 meters. In the south part, there was an area of dense woodland with existed poorly growing trees and messy weeds; while on the east and west sides, some shabby residential buildings were scattered. There were two low-lying areas in the park, where the vegetation was lodged or tilted by the rain slapping and immersed in the stagnant water during the rainy season, and the water level in the low-lying areas gradually rose by continuous rainfall, and causing the water overflowing into Hongshan Lake.
Objectives
On the basis of the available site conditions and sensitivity analyses, there were three construction objectives. Firstly, it proposed to adopt Low Impact Development (hereinafter: LID) strategies to protect the original ecological function and to strength the site’s self-evolution capabilities, so that the ecosystem could be recovered within a certain period of time. Secondly, as to cope with local climate changes such as the rainy season, adaptive landscape design was applied by paying full respects to the existed vertical resources, vegetation systems, inertial traffic, etc., presenting a dynamic landscaping to the citizens and tourists. At last, the project aimed at seeking an ideal coexistence mode between human and nature, not only sightseeing and landscaping, but also a variety of active participatory functions.
Strategies and Methods
The relationship between human and nature has been rebuilt by utilizing the existing rich vertical resources. Low-lying areas are ideal for rainwater collection, and the highland in the center which is the main viewing spot possesses a broad vision by its altitude-difference section within surroundings. The existed poorly growing trees and the messy weeds were cleaned up, while the flourishing Japanese cedars was well preserved with slight remediation. In the woods, shade-tolerant groundcovers, such as fragrant plantain lily, zephyr lily and Tulbaghia violacea were also planted with the reed lamp ornamented among them.
According to the research on the surface runoff and eco-corridor by data models, the potential ecological risks of excavation and embankment work were determined, and the space function combing with geographic and geomorphic conditions in some vital nodes were improved. Considering functions, landscaping and security, the water fronts were designed into two forms, which are naturally-planted revetment and water affinity revetment. The former contains grass slope, wetland planting bed and hygrophyte, and the latter has wood platform.
Further, a sponge system was established to well adapt to the changes from the nature. A rain garden was built in the low-lying area near the lakeside, surrounded by wooden planks and soft rush. Grassed bio-swales are also set throughout the whole site to establish an integrated ecological rainwater management system. Vegetation buffer zones are set in the gentle slope belt to slow down the surface runoff. Partially connected with the municipal pipe network in some rainwater collecting areas, the rainwater management system is also effective for withstanding the rare strong precipitation appearing only once in a decade, to provide water for green-land irrigation and other landscaping use.
Function of places should not be limited to sightseeing and landscaping. Various functional spaces are built by the participatory and ground-based design skills to make sure that people at different ages could happily spend their time in many ways in the park. It was scientifically designed in accordance with the scales, materials, interestingness and other elements of friendly children’s play space, where the kids could immerse in a variety of non-powered safe amusement equipment. Participatory design not only makes the park a strolling and sporting site for the elderly, but also inspires them to hold their club activities there.
Evaluation and Benefits
This project emphasized eco-sustainable development, changed public stereotypes of parks, promoted the economic development of the surrounding area, and created an ideal model of renovative city park in China. What was once a wasteland has been turned into a vibrant park, and becomes an ecological, healthy and agreeable life generator filled with vitality.
Project category: Public Project
Role of the entrant in the project: Landscape Design
Other designers involved in the design of landscape:
Design Principal: Li Baozhang
Project Director: Wen Dayi
Operation Director: Jiang Hailong
Project Manager: Zhang Wenjuan, Chen Lin
Design Team: Xiong Naiwei, Wu Ruixue, Chen Lin, Sun Xiaoxia, Song Qinlan, Xie Rui, Jin Xin
Planting Specialist: Jia Chao
Drawing Inspector：Zhang Lin
Drainage Engineer：Liu Fengmei
Electrical Engineer：You Xiaolin
On Site Engineer：Luo Fan
Project location: Hongshan Lake Road, Xixiu District, Anshun, Guizhou Province, China
Design year: 2017
Year Built: 2018
