From Border to Landscape

Abstract

The estuarine river landscape between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is a typical case where the landscape lost its value and characteristics due to the border policy. The two megacities Shenzhen (a city in mainland China) and Hong Kong (a special administrative region), are located in the southeast of the Pearl River Delta, one of the world's largest and rapidly developing delta regions.

The Shenzhen River in the middle of the two cities has been a border river since 1898. Coupled with the green buffer zone on the HK side that was once a restricted border area, the bay, the estuary, the river, and the land together form a uniquely polarized landscape, with urbanization and nature across the river. Whether to protect the natural environment or develop the land; and whether to preserve the ecological value or restore the aquaculture productivity become urgent arguments regarding future development in this border area.

This thesis aims to explore the development of a resilient landscape corridor across the Shen-Kong border to achieve the co-development of the environment and society. Viewing the landscape as a multifunctional and operative field with its own spatial, ecological and socio-cultural qualities (Nijhuis & Jauslin, 2015) can be a way to respond to the aforementioned phenomenon.

The thesis focuses on applying the theory of landscape infrastructure as a method in research and design to generate a resilient landscape framework that is considered armature for urban and rural development to facilitate interactions between natural and human systems (Nijhuis & Jauslin, 2015), projecting natural processes and performing multiple functions. Moreover, a methodology for designing towards a landscape framework is given in this thesis. Examples are provided to show the application of landscape infrastructure services and the assessment.