In recent decades there has been a burgeoning interest in the development of blue-green corridors: areas where waterways are complemented by adjoining green spaces and related paths and leisure facilities. Urban planners have increasingly favored such zones as a means of refreshing inner-city spaces. In many cases, such projects have involved the rehabilitation of former industrial and/or otherwise polluted waterways and adjacent land. These newly configured blue-green spaces have benefitted residents and provided a substantial attraction to tourists through in- and on- the water options (e.g., swimming, kayaking, fishing, cruise boat transit etc.), waterside relaxation and a range of riverbank activities. The establishment of managed green spaces has also seen the return of a variety of native species to such areas and the re-presentation of former waterside industrial features as heritage artifacts has also added value and appeal to such corridors.
The anthology comprises nine international case studies that illustrate examples of best practice and/or the problems that can arise from such rehabilitations, such as gentrification (forcing housing prices up and dispersing established communities) and de-industrialization that leads to reduced livelihood opportunities. Individual studies in the volume analyze the dynamics of neglect and rehabilitation, contrasting stakeholder agendas, destination branding and regional-national orientations. Collectively, the volume comprises an important reference point for future blue-green rehabilitation projects and the conclusion offers an agenda for the development of just and sustainable blue-green initiatives.
Daugiau informacijos
Researchers in Tourism, Leisure Studies, Urban Planning and Cultural Geography
Introduction: Vision, rhetoric and reality 1: Environmental, social and
economic enablers and constraints for the revitalisation of urban waterways:
The case of Padova (Italy) 2: From Bayou heritage to Blue-Green corridors:
The development and contemporary urban functions of New Orleans Bayou St.
John and Lafitte Greenway 3: Arts and recreation as environmental activism:
Reimagining Brooklyns Newtown Creek and Gowanus Canal in the 21st Century 4:
Blue-Green Infrastructure, tourism, leisure and lifestyle changes: A case
study of the Iloilo River Esplanade Development 5: Mamsha Ahl Masr: A
blueprint for sustainable urban revitalisation along the Nile River in Cairo
6: Blueing & Greening the Brown & Beige: Phoenixs Rio Salado and imagined
riparian Renaissance 7: Turning our face to the river: Leisure, nature, and
politics in Barranquilla (Colombia) 8: Sydneys Central River City: The
dynamics and complexities of Parramattas blue-green reorientation 9: Blue
rejuvenation and reconciliation; Belfasts titanic watery renaissance 10: An
agenda for optimising the social and environmental benefits of Blue-Green
rehabilitation projects
Philip Hayward is an adjunct professor in the School of Community, Culture and Global Studies at the University of British Columbia, Kelowna. He is editor of the Environmental Humanities journal Shima, a strategic advisor to the international River Cities Network and co-coordinator of the Flowzones project in northern New South Wales (Australia). He has written widely on riverine and related aquatic topics in various journals and his latest volume is Aquapelagos: Integrated Marine and Terrestrial Assemblages, co-edited with May Joseph (Pratt Institute, New York) and published by Routledge in December 2024.
