Achieving Successful River Restoration in Dense Urban Areas: Lessons from Taiwan
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Urban River Management in Taiwan
- (1)
- Flood defence as the single objective (before 1996);
- (2)
- Green beautification and water accessibility (1996–2001); and
- (3)
- Ecologically-oriented river engineering (after 2001).
3. Methods
4. Results
“In the past, the culverting of the Laojie River was mainly for economic development and this was thought to be the right decision, although it influenced the city’s riverscape. Recently, the over-water Laojie Market had not been successful and had been abandoned. It is certainly a good thing to reopen the Laojie River. After the de-culverting, we feel the landscape becomes much clearer and brighter. The river is seeing the daylight again.”
“Culvert-removal with a ‘softer’ river engineering approach is seen by some people as a lower level of flood prevention than the traditional ‘hard’ engineering methods… The local authority has stressed that the new Laojie River can supply the same, or even better, capability of flood prevention to riverside properties compared to the river before restoration.”
“Besides flood prevention, the restoration project mostly relates to the multi-functional benefits of recreation and landscape. This seems to effectively respond to the expectations of local people living in cities such as the Laojie River corridor… although water quality has been an issue that needs to be tackled, and the work done in an ecological sense is still disappointing in my view.”
5. Discussions
5.1. The Cheonggyecheon Stream as River Restoration Framing in Taiwan
5.2. Flood-Risk Communication and the Social Aspects of River Restoration
6. Methodological Reflections
7. Conclusions
- (1)
- River restoration with culvert-removal was generally supported by local people for improving environmental quality, but raised concerns about potential flooding. This may arise from different perceptions and the miscommunication of flood risk that occurred between the experts and the general public.
- (2)
- Both hard and soft water’s edges formed the improved riverside landscapes, showing a mix of river management methods in a densely-urbanized area. Adequate maintenance was needed to ensure effective functionality.
- (3)
- An integration of an on-site gravel contact oxidation treatment system and riverside sewage-intercepting facilities was adopted to improve the river water quality, but proved ineffective without support from a basin-wide sanitary sewer infrastructure.
- (4)
- People’s positive attitudes towards river restoration were mainly related to landscape aesthetics and recreational value, although water pollution and ecological degradation remained problematic.
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Appendix A.1. Accessibility
Appendix A.2. Activities
Appendix A.3. Public Facilities
Appendix A.4. Environmental Quality
Appendix A.5. Ecological Value
Appendix A.6. Flood Prevention
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Spatial Types | Identifiable Features | Diagrams |
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Recreation |
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Transport |
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Mixed use property |
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Underground culverts |
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Chou, R.-J. Achieving Successful River Restoration in Dense Urban Areas: Lessons from Taiwan. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1159. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111159
Chou R-J. Achieving Successful River Restoration in Dense Urban Areas: Lessons from Taiwan. Sustainability. 2016; 8(11):1159. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111159
Chicago/Turabian StyleChou, Rung-Jiun. 2016. "Achieving Successful River Restoration in Dense Urban Areas: Lessons from Taiwan" Sustainability 8, no. 11: 1159. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111159