Urban Waterfront Promenades

by Elizabeth Macdonald

Overview

Some cities have long-treasured waterfront promenades, many cities have recently built ones, and others have plans to create them as opportunities arise. Beyond connecting people with urban water bodies, waterfront promenades offer many social and ecological benefits. They are places for social gathering, for physical activity, for relief from the stresses of urban life, and where the unique transition from water to land eco-systems can be nurtured and celebrated. The best are inclusive places, welcoming and accessible to diverse users. This book explores urban waterfront promenades worldwide. It presents 38 promenade case studies—as varied as Vancouver’s extensive network that has been built over the last century, the classic promenades in Rio de Janeiro, the promenades in Stockholm’s recently built Hammarby Sjöstad eco-district, and the Ma On Shan promenade in the Hong Kong New Territories—analyzing their physical form, social use, the circumstances under which they were built, the public policies that brought them into being, and the threats from sea level rise and the responses that have been made.

Based on wide research, Urban Waterfront Promenades examines the possibilities for these public spaces and offers design and planning approaches useful for professionals, community decision-makers, and scholars. Extensive plans, cross sections, and photographs permit visual comparison.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317581352
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/06/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	308
File size:	78 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Elizabeth Macdonald, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Urban Design in the Departments of City and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture/Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. She is author of Pleasure Drives and Promenades: A History of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Brooklyn Parkways (2012), co-author of The Boulevard Book: History, Evolution, Design of Multiway Boulevards (2002), and co-editor of The Urban Design Reader (2013).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1 An Assembly of Waterfront Promenades

Chapter 1 Vancouver’s Waterfront Promenade Network

Chapter 2 Classic Grand Promenades

Chapter 3 Beachfront Boardwalks and Promenades

Chapter 4 Riverfront Promenade Loops

Chapter 5 Park Promenades Along Former Industrial Waterfronts

Chapter 6 Promenades in the Shadow of Freeways

Chapter 7 Spectacle Promenades

Chapter 8 Eco-District Promenades

Chapter 9 Suburban New Town Promenades

Chapter 10 Promontory Promenades

Chapter 11 Classic Bridge Promenades

Chapter 12 Incrementally Built Central Area Promenades

Part 2 Patterns of Connectivity and Access

Part 3 Designing Waterfront Promenades

Chapter 13 Designing for People and Place

Chapter 14 Meeting the Challenge of Rising Water

Chapter 15 Reflections

Appendix: People Volumes on Selected Promenades

Index