Past the juggler on the right, the young band plays to the rhythms of hands that move to percussion beats; the cyclists, with their bright yellow helmets, breeze past the roller-bladers in blue, with earnest energy. There are kids chasing a frisbee around the colourful food kiosks, just before the line of cafes with their bright awnings – all enjoying the pristine sunshine and the reflections of the flags on the ferry-skimming waves. This is not a mela or festival but just another day at the Esplanade in Singapore. The great waterfronts of the world – the promenades of the Seine in Paris and the Thames in London, the wharfs of San Francisco and Hong- Kong, the piers of Melbourne, and the boardwalks of Miami – are all pivotal to the creation of the iconic imagery of a place. What is more, they create value in both the social and economic realms of a city. Typically, waterfront cities embrace their edges, and are often more privileged when compared with their landlocked counterparts. The romance of the canals of Venice, the pristine lights of Sydney Harbour juxtaposed against the fan shaped Opera House, the first view of the skyline of the New York harbour (so symbolic of life and liberty to many a migrant to the United States) – are all harbours of dreams and aspirations. Each of these cities – and many more of their fraternity – has successfully turned its waterfront from being a mere economic frontier, or transit node used during a period of intense industrialisation, into an asset through interaction and identity, with the new mantra being dynamic renewal as opposed to static preservation.
Traditionally, Indian waterfronts (be they the ghats of Varanasi or Haridwar) have religious or community values. Yet, with over a 6000 kilometre long coastline edging the Indian peninsula, and over 150 rivers, we have few if hardly any waterfronts that make public goals a primary objective or that represent a product made by a shared community vision. Today, Indian cities – with their burgeoning populations and ‘unenforceable’ policies – have turned their waterfronts into battlefields where urban effluents successfully murder natural ecosystems, where human and industrial waste and pollutants are in conflict with the primary sources of potable water for the region, and where dirt, disease and decay spread over the land right up to the water’s edge, adversely affecting unplanned development and squatter settlements.
There have been some examples of significant development of their waterfronts in towns such as Nanded (Maharashtra), Pondicherry, Ahmadabad, and even in Mumbai with its recent ‘Soak’ program. However, a coherent policy and a strategic vision – that sees both land and water in synergy rather than opposed to each other – still needs to be implemented.
Despite the recession, land values in the country have seen growth, and will continue to do so in a simple equation of supply and demand. In this scenario, water sources have often been neglected and superseded by their grounded counterparts. Hence, sustainability combined with market based strategies is, perhaps, the only sensible and successful approach for the renewal of this abandoned and usually severely contaminated realm. The high costs of the redemption of these derelict edges need to be raised through innovative and creative tactics by the government though public-private partnerships or by leasing them to private developers for the building of community centres, parklands, mixed use neighbourhoods, and sports and recreational facilities. Each of these needs to also promote alternative energy systems, ecological conservation, multi-modal transit systems optimised for public access, and building types that engage the disengaged postmodern city in a dialogue that is dynamic, user-and-value based.
Till recently, land near the waterfronts was reclaimed and put to use with lines firmly demarcating water and land into two opposing sides that were divided and distanced by beams, steps, sea walls, and dykes – no doubt all meant to display resilience against the forces of nature, but which also created in the process, striated edges, fated to live in parallel and never meet. The existence of one was independent of the other. Good examples are the memorial parks of New Delhi – Raj Ghat, Shanti Van, Vijay Ghat, or Shakti Sthal. Acres of land were reclaimed from the river Yamuna and yet separated from it through landscape.
Erasure of these lines means allowing a more complex system to emerge, based on adaptability, and the use and hybridisation of spaces that lie between the land and the sea – almost allowing one to soak into the other. In such cases, the city edge is absorbent of both the ecology of the river and the physical and emotional needs of its populace. Good examples are the revival of Battery Park in New York, the Docklands in London, the harbour in Sydney. In each case, it is not the force of great design but the innovation of ‘same space for multiple uses’ that has allowed recombinant expressions of the city to emerge. Seasonal activities can be integrated into the design: festivals of all kinds (religious and community, music and literary, cultural and contemporary) can be provided for with a podium by the water’s edge. Typically, any waterfront in India is resplendent with historical buildings – some in use and others forgotten – which, if connected, allow the city to map and showcase its evolutionary process through tourism and, subsequently, through the adaptive reuse of these stagnant structures.
Today, we all understand water to be a necessary and fast depleting source of life – one that needs to be conserved and used with extreme caution. Yet, what if we look at water as an asset that allows us to generate a renewed approach to living – where we embrace diversity in use and space; where we accept the unpredictability of natural forces and allow it to change the physical edges of parts of our cities? In doing so we may enter into a more egalitarian dialogue with our water edges – one that eventually allows us to renew our socio-cultural relationship with them.
Hamburg – A Thriving Waterfront
Hamburg is a city characterised by its waterfront. With streams, rivers, and canals intersecting the city every couple of yards, it has over 2,300 bridges – more than those of Amsterdam and Venice combined. This picturesque city and its rather risqué reputation is distinct for yet another reason – that of being exceptionally green. Dissected by three main rivers and a number of canals, and centred on the pristine Alster Lake, one can see why life revolves around this main water body. Whether it is boating in the summer or ice skating in the winter, tourists and locals head to the water body to socialise, play sports, eat lunch, have business meetings, or just sun themselves on grassy patches, watching newly born swan ducklings waddle around. This city of 1.7 million people located on the river Elbe captures Germany’s recent economic and cultural revival like no other.
Hamburg’s reputation of being a free port garnered much attention from travellers, giving it the dubious distinction of having one of the world’s oldest red light districts, and a thriving community that either overlooks the Alster Lake, or takes its very essence from one of the water bodies that intersect the metropolis. Old warehouses in the Speicherstadt, at the Port, are now being converted into swanky offices, IT centers, and fashions hubs, and will soon become part of HafenCity. Instead of allowing the dockland to degenerate, Hamburg is following in the footsteps of London, Rotterdam, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. Dockyard regeneration will be undertaken over the next couple of decades. Along with urban development, a symbol of the area will be the spectacular Elbphilharmonie – a € 240 million complex with the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, hotels, and apartments.
Maritime flair and Hanseatic joie de vivre find a unique outlet here against an enthralling port backdrop, making Hamburg the finest city in the world for many.
Cardiff – Turning Myth into a Mermaid
Possibly among the world’s finest examples of smart renovation are Cardiff Bay and the Mermaid Quay. Once they were known by a significantly less glamorous name: the Cardiff Docks. Famed then for one thing only – the export of coal – today the area stands transformed. In 1999, the Welsh government introduced a barrage around the area to create a 500 acre freshwater lake and eight miles of waterfront, making Cardiff Bay Europe’s longest waterfront development
Once an industrial part of the city, the Bay now acts as the centre of activity, and is home to an assortment of bars, art galleries, and high-end restaurants, not to mention a whole host of tasteful new apartments, all overlooking the water. On good days, it is not uncommon for restaurants to extend their seating outdoors: towards the lake and under the stars. If you happen to be in the area, look up the ‘Bayside Brasserie’ for style and fine-dining, as well asJohn Malkovich’s funky 60s-themed hotel ‘The Big Sleep’ – voted one of the world’s 25 ‘most cool’ by Conde Nast Traveller. The finest attraction, though, remains the architectural marvel: The Millennium Centre. Try catching an opera, concert, or art show there.
Courtesy: Greenlife Magazine
