Page 7 - Landscape-Issue123

PROJECT

The botanical garden building Timber walkways provide pedestrian access and circulation through the park
and mangrove area

Playgrounds provide an inspiring environment for children

Park concept and design philosophy as part of the green urban infrastructure project, with the aim of
The 47ha park (comprising 19,3 ha of project working area) is divided realising the values potentially offered by a large public park to the
into four basins and access to it can be made from any of the basins city. These values include climate change amelioration, education
through the main and secondary entrances located at the points of and recreation. This objective is realised through a series of tasks
greatest interest. related to the improvement of ecosystem functioning, improving use
values, accessibility, permeability and sense of place.
The park’s fundamental concept is a sense of environmental and
landscape continuity between the four basins by creating, along The creation of longitudinal movement systems and the articulation
the Chiveve River, a green unit that extends from the wetland area, of the edge treatment are critical in landscape design and place-
through the Goto wetland, golf area, fishing port, and connecting with making, but the overall success of the design relies on people
the nearest urban network through various access points. inhabiting the spaces created. In order to encourage people to use
the park and river system, passive and active recreational activities
Throughout the park, there are facilities for recreation, exercise, and activation nodes have been located along the length of the river.
rest, contemplation, culture and economic activities. These include These nodes respond to the surrounding urban context and existing
playgrounds, outdoor gyms, walkways in an area of mangrove, social patterns and needs.
pedestrian and cycle trails, picnic areas, a botanical garden, an open-
air amphitheatre, several kiosks, a restaurant, a market, an exhibition The aim is to create a park that encompasses both social and
centre and an events centre. All activities are oriented towards raising environmental benefits, and showcases climate-conscious design
environmental awareness. in Africa. The intention is to create a park not only with multiple
climate change adaptation strategies, but also with as low a carbon
The project is aimed at the environmental recovery of the Chiveve footprint as possible. Practicality, possibility, functionality, contextual
River area and the creation of a vast, green space equipped with appropriateness, resilience and sustainability played a large role in
public infrastructure within the framework of an urban public park. the design. The vision for the climate change adaptation layer of the
Underlying this was the concept of promoting resilient urban planning design is that it was not completely enclosed within the park, but
and design in the vicinity of Chiveve, which on the one hand will rather diffused outwards from the park into the rest of the city. The
protect the river and adjacent mangrove wetlands from informal and goal is to create a green network that permeates throughout the
disorganised activities, and on the other hand, will update the natural entire city, using Chiveve River as the hub.
and built environment, creating direct social and economic benefits
as well as indirect benefits connected to those of urban green spaces. Landscape installation and plant material
Life Landscapes (sub-contracted by CHICO) was responsible for
Landscape design objective plantings and other soft landscape issues. The soft landscape
The overall objective of the landscape design was to create a park construction work included preparing the land and installing plant

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