Donghu greenway

Summary

Twenty five percent of the land area of Wuhan is covered by water. Donghu is the most iconic and nationally protected. Before the construction of the Donghu greenway, residents did not benefit from this ecological resource: the area was not easily accessible to the public and the scenic areas within the site were not well connected.

Background and Objective

The high park fees and poor directions within the park also hindered access. There was a lack of activities and adequate service facilities; too many vehicles posed safety concerns to pedestrians; the water quality of East Lake was also declining. Wuhan’s vision was a city that is beautiful where people and nature co-exist in harmony. The aim was to provide citizens with more access, improved, ecological and inclusive public leisure space and improve the living standard of residents of the Greenway. Donghu Greeway was the first project under the UN-Habitat demonstration project for China's urban public space improvement in collaboration with Wuhan Land Use and Spatial Planning Research Centre (WLSP). The greenway took a Transit Oriented Development approach, people-oriented slow mobility solutions, variety of solutions to enhance urban biodiversity, multiple applications for purifying lake water through natural means and the provision of public amenities adjusted to people’s needs. Renewing existing informal settlements without resettlement but focusing on converting their informal economy towards new services. After its implementation, the number of visitors increased from 94,000 tourists in 2015 to more than 10 million in just two years leading to job creation and local economic development of the area. The greenway was open to all for free and led to many events and recreational activities being organized. The roads were given back to pedestrians, which increased the number of cyclists and promoted walking. After ecological restoration, the total number of trees increase by 53 thousand, the total repaired area is about 10 square kilometers with 10.2 Km of motor way removed and 34km of shoreline recovered with improved water quality. Read more: https://unhabitat.org/pilot-project-launched-for-improved-urban-public-spaces-in-china