SWA provided planning and design services for the 3.3km long, 250-acre metropolitan Ningbo Eco-Corridor, which transforms a former agricultural plain that had been taken over by industrial use into urban green infrastructure. Located in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta on China’s coastline, Ningbo is one of China’s oldest cities, with an area of 3,616 square miles and a population of 5.43 million. Ningbo, which translates to “tranquil waters,” has been a well-known key port for foreign trade since ancient times. The development of this area inspired a strategy to establish Ningbo as a larger metropolitan area of economic and environmental importance and has set the stage for an ecological approach to the re-development of the city. Acting as a living filter, the design utilizes ecological strategies of hydrology, vegetation and topography, providing recreational, educational and cultural facilities for the Ningbo Eastern New City. Each area of development exemplifies a sustainable ecological approach by treating and recycling surface run-off water, harvesting solar energy, and reducing the urban heat-island effect. SWA additionally implemented a sustainable hydrological design that allows water to be filtered and aerated effectively and retained for aquifer recharge. The design seeks to offer a link between humans and their environment, fostering a community relationship to water and opportunities for environmental and ecological education. By linking together the ecological network in this region, the Ningbo Eco-Corridor enhances public health, quality of life, and property values of local and neighboring communities, and encourages other cities in the region to support ecological components in their respective developments.
Martin Luther King Jr. Square Water Quality Demonstration Park
The City of Conway received both local and federal grants to create a water quality demonstration park in a flood-prone, one-block area of its downtown to educate the public about Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure (GI) methods and how they can enhance water quality. The project will transform this remediated brownf...
Southern Gateway Park
The Southern Gateway Public Green will cap Highway 35 in South Dallas directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo and the Oak Cliff neighborhood. The park’s design effectively reconnects the neighborhood, which was cleaved by the highway’s construction many decades ago.
Recognizing the reunification’s significance, the cap park design introduces the 12th Stree...
Sims Bayou
The story of Sims Bayou is based on a large vision. The project is the first step in implementing a long-range plan for watershed greenbelts in the Houston region, a comprehensive system which addresses the potential for parks, wildlife habitat, and economic real estate revitalization while also controlling flooding. The Sims Bayou project has profoundly chang...
High Island Audubon Canopy Walk
High Island, Texas, a salt dome mound amidst the Gulf Coast flats, has been an active site for oil extraction over the past century. Today, it is primarily known as an international birding destination, with an outstanding variety of migratory birds that visit and nest in the nature sanctuaries managed by the Houston Audubon Society. SWA worked with HAS to dev...