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Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jessica Canfield / Riverfronts and greenways are our retreat to nature within the urban setting. They provide connections, opportunity for recreation, habitat for flora and fauna, and most importantly spaces that encourage exercise and social interaction. When these areas are located within the urban context, they are especially susceptible to the degradation that comes with the development of an area such as pollution, erosion, and in some cases lack of care or maintenance. The riverfront in Wichita suffers from three hindrances that restrict it from becoming an asset to the community and compromises human and ecological health along the river. Limited accessibility, a lack of recreational amenities, and poor environmental quality all contribute to the river being under-utilized. While these three elements compromise the site, the location makes it a prime candidate for transformation, creating a cohesive riverfront that has great potential to be utilized by the residents of a quickly growing downtown area. Through the establishment of these dilemmas a framework that focuses on the access and awareness, recreational amenities, and corridor enhancement can then be applied to the Wichita Riverfront. The Wichita Riverfront will encompass active and passive recreation that promotes human health through exercise, social interaction, and improved ecological conditions.

The purpose of this practicum is about developing a resource for future riverfront development through the integration of ecological erosion control techniques, flood design strategies and insightful planning principles. With a new outlook on protection solutions and design opportunities for riverfront spaces, the Red River will return as the ecological spine of Winnipeg, ensuring the health and longevity of our future River City.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Richard H. Forsyth / This study focuses on the waterfront redevelopment process associated with small town redevelopment projects. The goal of this study will be to identify common and/or unique factors limiting and/or creating opportunities in the creation of small scale waterfronts. Many waterfronts of today have evolved from the unfriendly working waterfronts of the past, to a post-industrial environment sensitive to users needs. With the inception of these user friendly waterfronts, many communities have experienced positive results influencing economics, community image, increased socialization in addition to many other positive attributes. Unfortunately, smaller communities looking to take advantage of these desirable features often lack the resources needed to incorporate a waterfront redevelopment. Many professionals involved in these unique projects are often challenged by the constraints associated with small scale riverfronts. The goal of this research topic will be to gain a better understanding, from a professional perspective, what issues challenge the redevelopment process and why these challenges often curtail small scale waterfront projects. In an effort to better understand waterfront redevelopment, research involved background studies highlighting historical aspects, design, and implementation. In addition to background studies, case studies of the successful Owensboro and Atchison Riverfront projects were developed enabling the identification of key factors essential to small scale redevelopment. Furthermore, an annotated outline was developed as a guide for future communities to utilize as a foundation necessary in the successful implementation of a small scale waterfront redevelopment.

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Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / Our water bodies have functioned as a critical transportation network, moving people, raw materials, products and goods across countries and continents. Starting as hubs of shipping, trade, and commerce, water bodies were the center of social and economic life of early cities. Technological advances in freight transport spelled the eventual demise of urban ports. This transformation has left vast swathes of vacant, urban waterfront property under-used, neglected, and disconnected from cities that once thrived along the water. This under-utilized land is now seen as a resource for revitalizing urban cores. Cities are looking to reclaim their once prosperous waterfronts (Fisher et al. 2004). Detroit’s riverfront has long been plagued by industry and pollution. For the past 25 years, Detroit has been striving to turn its dilapidated shoreline into a thriving public asset. Today, three and a half miles of the Detroit RiverWalk stretching from Joe Louis Arena east to Gabriel Richard Park have been completed and is open to the public (Brown 2007). Designs are currently being developed to extend the RiverWalk west to Ambassador Bridge, but no studies are planned for the east end toward Water Works Park and beyond(Brown 2007). The existing eastern terminus of Detroit’s RiverWalk does not allow access to the riverfront from neighborhoods that lie to the north and east. Residents have expressed growing interest in extending the RiverWalk and greenway connections to promote use (The Villages Community Development Corporation 2010). How can the Detroit RiverWalk be configured to extend eastward in order to connect neighborhoods and communities to the waterfront, provide amenities in waterfront parks, and create pedestrian greenway linkages? The Detroit riverfront will be accessible to surrounding neighborhoods with the east extension of the RiverWalk, redesign of waterfront parks, and greenway linkages which connect communities with the waterfront and amenities. Humans have a natural attraction to water; therefore “the public increasingly desires and expects access to the water’s edge” (Brown 2007). Pedestrian access is fundamental, particularly linking outlying areas to the water’s edge (Marshall 2001). The RiverWalk extension consists of research of waterfront theory, greenway practices, and the existing riverfront. Critical theory principles and contextual information will be extruded and organized into key components: Extend, Connect, and Provide. These components will outline the analysis, programming, and design phases in order to create a coherent master plan. Detroit can be a precedent for greenway and waterfront development in residential neighborhoods. The Detroit riverfront can be transformed into a public amenity for residents and visitors to benefit, enjoy, and appreciate the power of our fundamental resource: water.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Alpa Nawre / Historically, industrial riverfronts often polluted waters and sites with chemicals, leading to degraded ecosystem health and reduced numbers of aquatic wildlife downstream. These sites currently pollute the environment through residual chemicals and waste left behind by industrial-era production factories. Urban riverfront redevelopment offers many possibilities to restore wetland ecosystems and reestablish site connections to surroundings through human access. By redeveloping urban rivers for wetland protection and stormwater management, cities can begin to regain their connections with the landscape while providing resilient ecosystems through restoration. This proposal identifies possibilities for riverfront redevelopment as wetlands and tools for restorative action aiding increased human access and wildlife health. A stormwater management plan utilizing phytotechnology is proposed for the ARMCO Site at 7000 Winner Rd. Kansas City, MO, a former steel manufacturing site, adjacent to the Missouri River and Blue River waterways. Using plant material and landscape design, the ARMCO riverfront has been redesigned to unlock the full potential of treatment wetlands and showcase emerging treatment methods that could soon become typical cleanup procedure. A template for remediation design has been created with the techniques identified for remediation, stormwater treatment, and habitat creation outlined in the master plan proposal. Nine precedent studies have been used to identify key concepts for design phasing aimed at human accessibility and modifications of restorative tools. Careful deliberation of stormwater containment and flood plain levels define site layout while contributing design responses adaptable for year-round functionality coupled with landscape interest for each season. The techniques and planting palette have been tailored to address the specific site contaminants for the Missouri River riverfront but are adaptable for various contaminants and ecosystems.

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No description available.