Over the past several decades, as Taipei metropolitan, area exploded to its current population of over 5 million, its major river system, Tamsui River and Hsin-tien Stream, became the receptor of waste from the heavily populated areas surrounding it. Along with it came the construction of flood control walls which separated the people from the river.
In recent years, efforts have been undertaken to reverse the degeneration of the water ways. While cleaning the rivers has yet to see concrete results, Taipei city has managed to reclaim, the use of some river fronts as recreational open spaces.
This project aims to develop a recreational river front park. A major goal is to demonstrate how the restoration of a section of the river, both in its natural-ecological features, and in its water quality aspects, can be combined with sensitive planning for recreational uses of the river bank. Access to the water’s edge for large numbers of people in the congested neighborhoods along the river is a key objective.
A 4-km section of the Hsin-tien Stream from. Pitan Bridge to Sho-lan Bridge was chosen for the project. The banks of the river includes 136 hectares of public and private lands to be used for open space and recreational purposes.
The overall goals of the project are
1. To provide a large waterfront urban open space.
2. To develop a sustainable management plan for the park.
3. To assure the maintenance of the natural ecological and hydrological characteristics.
In order to reach these goals, our plan calls for the following actions
1. Regulating upstream, waste water discharge and strict prohibition of dumping along the river.
2. Restoration of one side of the river bank to its former natural ecological conditions.
3. Development of a recreational park along the other bank to include:
a. More intense sports related uses along the higher ground adjacent to the access roads.
b. Large green fields as multi=purpose open spaces along the lower grounds which are subject to flooding.
c. Access points to the river at selected locations for rafting and water edge activities.