SWA recently completed a master plan for a 36 km length of the Xingyang Suo River located in Xinyang, China. Located on a site at the confluence of an elaborate network of waterways, the River has served as a transportation system for the movement of goods, services and people between Xingyang, Beijing and the coastal cities to the Southeast. This has transformed the River to be physically and ecologically compromised. The Xingyang Suo River has become a series of water holding basins engineered to hold water for municipal and commercial purposes. SWA’s master plan explores viable ecological and developmental opportunities along the river corridor. The plan’s approach aims to structure a natural system that can sustain an authentic ecological system while creating a framework for distinct development patterns. The design concept uses ‘big nature’ as its guiding principle and is based on an authentic understanding of how natural systems have operated and continue to work at a scale much larger than most urban cities. Within the concept, ‘big’ describes the mechanism for the integration of robust contiguous systems such as engineered hydrologic flows, pedestrian trails, recreation systems, and transit, while ‘nature’ incorporates a new ecological approach founded on the principles of natural landscapes. SWA’s design concept addresses an entire watershed, provides innovative solutions to balance natural resources while creating opportunities for development, tourism, recreation, and healthy living.
Wusong Riverfront
Kunshan, China, located near Shanghai, has experienced unprecedented population and business growth in recent years which has resulted in environmental degradation and the need for the city to reshape its identity. SWA’s proposal aims to create a new waterfront district providing businesses as well as residents with public amenities and viable open space. The ...
San Pedro Waterfront Connectivity Plan
Spanning over 460 acres and 8 linear miles of waterfront, the Port of Los Angeles is among the most important pieces of infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere—the largest container port in the U.S., a linchpin for global logistics, and an industrial hub critical to San Pedro and L.A. County at large.
Today, the Port is imagining a more connective, acc...
Amber Bay
The Amber Bay residential development is located on a beautiful rocky promontory that is among the last available parcels along the Dalian shoreline, southeast of the city center. The project features high-end low density modern style residential development including single family villas, townhouses, and low-rise condominiums; shops and seafood restaurants on...
Sava Promenada at the Belgrade Waterfront
This one-million-square-meter waterfront development, the single largest regeneration project in Serbia’s history, aims to create a world-class, sustainable destination for civic and cultural attractions, forging human and physical connections to the Sava River where none existed before. Located near the historic town center of Belgrade, the site’s...