River. Space. Design

CONTENT: Prerequisites for planning urban river spaces; water spaces and their processes; designing water spaces; process space A -- Embankment walls and promenades; Process space B -- Dikes and flood walls; Process space C -- Flood areas; Process space D -- Riverbeds and currents; Process space E -- Dynamic river landscapes. SUMMARY: Urban riverbanks are attractive locations and highly prized recreational environments. The designs of urban river landscapes must fulfill a broad range of requirements: flood control, open space design, and ecology are as a rule the three dominant themes, and they must often be reconciled within a very restricted space. The river must be understood as a process: governed by changing water levels, shifting seasons, erosion, and sedimentation, the river environment is not a static entity but constantly changing--the design must be flexible and take this into account. This book is the product of a multi-year study that subjected more than fifty Western European projects to a comparative analysis. The result is a systematic catalog of effective strategies and innovative design elements. First, designers and planners are given an overview of the broad and