Riverfront Development Concept Design to Revitalize River Life & Community

by sunconengineers

In India, we are undergoing a lot of development and along with the other developments, there is upfront work going on for cleaning, rejuvenation, and redevelopment of rivers and riverfronts. With the increase in population and respectively increased industrialization, Earthians started degrading our rivers by dumping chemical wastes from factories and sewer lines, dumping wastes and garbage in rivers progressed to pollution and depletion of water.

In ancient India, it was seen that rivers were flowing to their most capacity even in Summers. But the scenario is completely different nowadays. It is hardly any river in India that can be seen flowing freely. Hence rejuvenation has been introduced to make the river young as it was all over again. Externally rejuvenation can be done by prioritizing to limitations of dumping waste and chemically treated water, etc. by using water treatment techniques.

With the hopes increased with the successful rejuvenation of the river Ganga, it is now instantiated for a lot of rivers across India. The mission is to rejuvenate and immortalize the dying rivers and make them flow in their natural state beautifully like in old times.

River Ganga

The project is considered successful and can be revitalizing as seen in the Topographic surveys done of the river basins/ banks using the survey technologies such as Total Stations (TS), Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging).

Learn more: Topographic Surveys

Example of LiDAR

Generally, the waterfront is the zone of interaction between urban development and the water and can be easily identified and designed by Topographical survey and Photogrammetric Survey methods. A waterfront area is considered a unique and irreplaceable resource where it is the interface between land, water, air, sun, and productive plants. Moreover, the waterfront is classified as a place integrating the land with water and has a natural attraction to people.

The river’s natural sea lines such as meanders backwater, water lands, and gradually sloped banks serve essential ecological functions which benefit the ecosystem as a natural cleanser and flood storage.

For designing a river waterfront as per the required specifications and attributes, designing and estimation are done for the construction on the basis of activities such as Topographical Survey, Soil Investigations, designs, environmental impact assessment (EIA), and socio-impact assessment. On the basis of these, detailed estimates are prepared which are further used for Detailed Project Report Preparation which will lead the construction activities.

Definition of Waterfront

Waterfront can be defined as direct access to a natural or manmade waterway such as a lake, river, or canal. It is separated from the water by a right-of-the-way private road or unopened road.

Waterfront creates pleasant environments to live and recreate. Factors that are directly affected to contribute a resurgence of waterfront development. Along with the availability of cleaner water and land, the historic presentation movement, citizen activism and leadership, and urban revitalization.

Methodology for Riverfront Development

The aim of the project should be to transform the riverfront to create a recreational and entertaining cultural platform serving the city with new happiness and a place to get together. The goal is to plan a development that would be oriented toward creating an urban farm that is wholly consistent with the physiographic feature of the area. Families can spend time with their loved ones with the mesmerizing sound of the flowing river and the surrounding ambiance.

The project would look into ways to rejuvenate urban life and the space through improved quality of life, facilitating recreational and cultural activities, organizing informal businesses, and designing better public spaces with creative amenities.

The urban form integrated with the natural landscape would create an enriching experience by responding to the context of water and the existing diversity of activities thereby, create a visually dominant landmark.