With rapid urban sprawl, comes new challenges to the trends in urbanization. The recent trends in urban development bring urban systems and urban experiences into daily contact with natural habitats. So, it is extremely important to consider natural systems in play while designing for an Urban ecosystem, which is one of the principles of Landscape Urbanism. It is a design practice that intervenes Natural landscape and habitation to form an integrative systems approach. This thesis is built upon approaching an urban riverfront development project through the perspective of Landscape Urbanism. It aims at developing design strategies for the ecological restoration of River Tapi and an environmentally efficient riverfront. The site context is carefully studied and analyzed through literature review, history, mapping analysis, public survey, on-site observation, and activity mapping. The complex concerns that emerge out of context study are strategically organized as a system of categories. Building upon these categories is design interventions to combat those. These interventions are then validated through a prototype site design which can be used as a module to further rejuvenate River Tapi and develop the riverfront.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / Many small Midwestern towns established near a river thrived on industry and the transport of goods up and down the waterway. Unfortunately, industrial riverfronts that have acted as the heart of their communities have seen tremendous flux as time has progressed. In the past half century the economic activity of industrial riverfronts declined as more goods can be shipped via interstate highways and as factories are closed and relocated. These vacant factories leave behind contaminated brownfield sites which discourage reinvestment and promote greenfield development on a city’s periphery in agricultural lands. Citizens have turned their backs on a history and heritage from which the first cornerstones of their communities were laid. A void results as industry begins to fade from the riverfront and a town loses its connection to the river. Put simply, we have lost our riverfronts. The Riverfront Found Master Plan for Quincy, Illinois integrates the different uses of the riverfront, weaving together the existing industrial, recreational, and natural fabrics that line the Mississippi River. Design concepts strive to create a dynamic atmosphere to encourage a healthy lifestyle environment and destinations with year-round interest. Enjoyable and memorable experiences of Quincy’s riverfront encourage users to return as the negative community perceptions of the Mississippi River are reversed. Planning is inwardly focused to combat sprawl of the urban fabric. Decision-making remains sensitive to floodplain ecology and mindful of flood occurrence. Conservation is an important design response concerning riverfronts and requires understanding an intricate system regionally and locally. Education ties both conservation and site experience together as users remember how their city and culture are embedded in ecology. Three case studies identify key concepts to inform the project at later stages. A site inventory and analysis spanning three scales, regional, city, and site uncovers history and processes. The programming phase addresses proposed elements to address the concepts, ideas, and problems identified in previous steps. A final master plan presents the proposed program elements within context of the site to create a functional and dynamic riverfront for the citizens of Quincy.

The archaeological resources contained in Corvallis Riverfront Commemorative Park (RCP) have a great potential to add to the historical record of the warehouse district of the original town of Marysville (Corvallis). The City of Corvallis' proposed Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project and proposed changes to Riverfront Commemorative Park threaten to destroy archaeological resources within the research area. The purpose of this research was to assess the archaeological potential of the research area between VanBuren and Jefferson Avenues along the Willamette River. The assessment was based on an archaeological survey and historical documents. Historical records and maps were used to create a chronology of the developments which occurred within the research area. By knowing who occupied the riverfront and when, archaeologists can design a plan for the excavation of these resources. The archaeological survey was conducted to locate remains that may be related to structures that once occupied the riverfront. Maps of the City's proposed construction were used to determine the potential resources that will be impacted. The historical record indicated that there is a great potential for the research area to yield archaeological remains which can add to our knowledge about the formation of Marysville (Corvallis). These archaeological remains if properly excavated could be used for public interpretation and as a common theme within Riverfront Commemorative Park. An assessment of construction project maps for the CSO project and proposed changes to Riverfront Commemorative Park indicate that a majority of the archaeological resources contained within the research area will be destroyed. Based on these assessments it is recommended that the City of Corvallis conduct subsurface archaeological testing to recover as much information related to the settlement of the research area as possible. / Graduation date: 1998

As the focus in southeastern archaeology shifts away from large scale hierarchical analyses in favor of agency based approaches, our understanding of Mississippian settlements has changed. This research is an attempt to fill the “fuzzy gap” in Mississippian archaeological literature left by decades of research premised on Neo-evolutionary models and theories. In this thesis, I present my case study on Riverfront Village, a small Mississippian “hamlet” located in the Savannah River Valley. Through an analysis of subterranean pit features, I present a new feature classification scheme open to variability, and address how variations within the practice of subterranean storage relate to social complexity.

Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University, 2002. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 26, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-118).

This creative project produced a master plan for a 120 acre area of the Cincinnati waterfront known as Riverfront West. In 1990, the City of Cincinnati adopted a zoning ordinance in for the Riverfront West area changing the zoning from light industrial to high public investment. In other words, Cincinnati City Council has visions for this site as a multi-use area in the development of offices, retail and residential. But how the site will develop, how the development will connect with the existing downtown, and how the development will be flood protected was the problem at hand.The entire site in this project lies within the floodplain of the Ohio River. This creative project explores design considerations which will protect new development from the flood waters of the Ohio River while increasing opportunities for people to enjoy physical and visual contact with the river. This master plan reclaims a portion of the floodplain and reweaves it into the urban fabric of Cincinnati. Inspiration for the flood protection in the form of a serpentine earth work was found in the meandering of the river, the Native American earth works which were prevalent in this area when the first settlers landed at Cincinnati in 1788, as well as the Serpentine Wall found up-river from the site.This project will address the history of Cincinnati, the evolution of the Cincinnati waterfront, cases studies of similar projects, inventory / analysis of Riverfront West, and finally the design process and final master plan of Riverfront West. / Department of Landscape Architecture

O presente estudo é uma pesquisa qualitativa com enfoque participante e fenomenológico, que tem por objetivo registrar as concepções, os valores éticos e de espiritualidade dos integrantes da Comunidade Ribeirinha do Rio Roosevelt. Para a coleta de dados, utilizamos a entrevista dirigida com questões referentes à espiritualidade na comunidade supracitada no Município de Colniza, Estado de Mato Grosso, no período de 01/06/2011 a 11/06/2011. Os sujeitos selecionados são oriundos ou descendentes de nordestinos que migraram para a região noroeste de Mato Grosso em busca de riqueza, não necessariamente econômica, mas de garantir a própria subsistência e de seus familiares. A amostra tentou capturar os dados com as pessoas mais idosas da comunidade. O tema da investigação foi a espiritualidade manifestada pelos sujeitos, perpassando pelos acontecimentos diários de suas vidas até a preocupação com a finitude. As respostas demonstram que os Ribeirinhos possuem concepções vivenciais de espiritualidade e finitude (morte), embasadas na Ética do Cuidado. Os sujeitos externam profundo respeito pelo meio ambiente em que vivem e extremo cuidado para com seus semelhantes. / This research is a qualitative study with a participant and phenomenological approach, which aims to record the views, values, ethics and spirituality of the members of the Roosevelt riverfront Community. In order to collect data, we use the directed interview with questions related to spirituality in the referred community of the County of Colniza, State of Mato Grosso, in the period from June 1st 2011 to June 11th 2011. The selected participants are from the Northeast or descendants of migrants who went to the northwest of Mato Grosso in seek of wealth, not necessarily economic, but in order to ensure their own subsistence and for their families as well. The sample tried to capture the data with older people in the community. The theme of spirituality investigation was manifested by the subjects, spanning the events of their daily lives to their concern with finiteness. The answers show that riverside have conceptions of experiential spirituality and finitude (death), based in the Ethics of Care. The subjects show deep respect for the environment in which they live and an extreme care to their equals.

Master thesis project presents a strategy for wide area of Bratislava river-front, the Pecniansky forest. Aim of proposal is to get that large and forgotten place, the part of Bratislava city centre, back into the life. By controlled changes achieve space that will be attractive to all animal and plant species. The space is transformed to system of functional, relax and pure natural sites. The new space can offer new possibilities for Bratislava inhabitants in their free time and will be educational in self-sufficiency, sustainability and ecology in general.

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts is one of the largest cities in western Massachusetts, and was established on the Connecticut River for trading and as a fur-collecting post. In 18th and early 19th century, it experienced an industrial boom and became a regional financial center. Springfield became a major railroad center and grew to become the regional center for banking, finance, and courts. However, in mid-19th century Springfield suffered due to the flooding of the Connecticut River and the disinvestment in industry. These resulted in an urban sprawl as people started moving away from heart of the city. Now, once again, the city is trying to revitalize its downtown and neighboring areas to attract people by improving different types of social and cultural amenities. In this thesis, the author studies the relation of the city with its natural asset ‘The Connecticut Riverfront’ which can be a great place to attract people towards the heart of the city. The author has also researched the various reasons causing this natural asset to be underutilized for several years. In addition, the author also explores the possibilities of connecting the Springfield downtown to the riverfront, providing safe and undisturbed access mainly to pedestrians, physically challenged people, and bike riders. Research shows that the existing transportation paths are the major barriers discouraging people from reaching the riverfront. In order to overcome this problem, a design solution is proposed including a safe, pedestrian-friendly link from the downtown area to the riverfront mitigating all the transportation paths such as highway, high speed traffic roads, and railway tracks. The proposed link will give encouragement to local artist and will also aim to boost local businesses by providing sites for museums, exhibitions, art galleries, food courts, and retail shops. This structure will not only improve the accessibility but it will also provide public open spaces where people can gather for various activities and can also enjoy the scenic view of the riverfront. In Addition, local people can also enjoy the water viewing restaurant and bar overlooking Connecticut River. Lastly, this connecting link lays the foundation for further development of the riverfront area due to increased accessibility to this asset.

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture, Forestry & Recreation Resources / Greg Davis / Urban environmental pollution continues to be exacerbated by a number of factors relating to human population growth including sewage discharged directly into the urban rivers designed with concrete-sealed riverfronts. This has left a number of rivers with deteriorated water quality. Where a riverfront could be the highlight and magnet of the city, it may instead become a stain and waste place. In 1969 American landscape planner McHarg proposed the landscape planning theory, “Design with Nature." His primary argument was that natural processes provide self-regulatory functions that need to be reflected in our plans and designs. Ecological design aims include restoring or promoting natural processes and automatic (bio-physical, regenerative, and adaptive) stabilizers. A wide range of scientific knowledge is available to help guide the designer, but designers usually have limited time to complete their designs. Unfortunately, much of this information is diffusely dispersed in research literature and not easily collected and synthesized by the design community. The purpose of this review is to help provide a synthesis of current thought and to help establish the basis for principles that can aid the designer, offering easy-to-understand design guidelines related to the use of aquatic plants in ecological redevelopment along urban riverfronts. This report focuses on using aquatic plants as the main material to help solve two key problems along riverfront developments: water pollution and flooding. As such this report can serve as a guide for the designer helping them to select aquatic plants using an ecological design approach for the redevelopment of urban riverfronts. It also addresses the essential need to adapt designs based on local site problems and requirements. Since this report provides a review and a basis for where to start in designing with aquatic plants in ecological redevelopment of urban waterfronts, it should not be considered as an exclusive source for the designer but rather a complement to local guidelines and information to derive design solutions.