A recipe for waterfront renaissance

Urban designer suggests eight principles for revitalizing an urban port. Building on the successful reinvigoration of its downtown riverfront, the City of Providence, Rhode Island, is pursuing a redevelopment of Narragansett Landing, a 650-acre industrial waterfront parcel south of downtown. The decline of the manufacturing sector and changes in transportation have left this part of Providence’s port as a mix of vacant land and contaminated properties. Narragansett Landing is a gateway district, bordered by the main southern expressway entrance to the city, and therefore has the potential to shape people’s initial perceptions of the waterfront and the city as a whole. The plans for Narragansett Landing are still in a preliminary stage. The city has secured several grants for studies of site contamination and how to acquire the land, but no final plan has been submitted for approval yet. At this time, the City is basing its strategy on a vision plan by Boston-based design firm Sasaki Associates, which was chosen in a competitive process. Sasaki’s plan proposes mixed-use development along a new waterfront boulevard that would connect to downtown. The plan also includes a major waterfront park, marinas for private boats, and a consolidation of the existing commercial port facilities. According to Sasaki’s Kathryn Madden, cities such as San Francisco, Boston, and Cleveland have successfully transformed their ports and waterfront districts during the last two decades, and Providence is poised to follow suit. the fundamentals Madden suggests eight basic principles that urban planners and municipal officials can employ in any urban waterfront redevelopment: 1) Transform the image of the waterfront as a gateway to the city. Urban waterfronts are often in a highly visible area, close to downtown or regional highways, sending an important message about the character and the economy of a city. 2) Create a waterfront boulevard as a spine for new development. A gracious waterfront boulevard and other new streets will connect new development to the downtown and to the neighborhoods. The waterfront streets should be active and accessible to all, with benches under a continuous tree-lined canopy, building entrances, and people walking and bicycling to their destinations. 3) Strengthen the regional open space system by linking nearby parks and linear corridors. New parks and pathways along the waterfront can be extended to connect to other regional parks along the water or in neighborhoods. In addition to bicycle paths and footpaths, water-taxis can become an important link in the regional open space system. 4) Create parks that act as windows to the water. With a series of parks along the waterfront, each open space can develop a distinct theme and character that relates to the inland neighborhoods or surrounding uses. These parks may highlight historic and environmental features, and some will accommodate large festivals and cultural gatherings. 5) Provide continuous public access that varies along the length of the waterfront. The journey along the water’s edge should vary to include formal esplanades, boardwalks, public piers, winding paths through natural settings, and allow for access to active marinas and other commercial uses as well. Quiet, public streets along the water’s edge will ensure an open and accessible waterfront. 6) Design open space to create value to adjacent land. Buildings should frame each public park and draw value from that open space, taking full advantage of any water views as well. New development should complement the parks and surround them with active ground floor uses and destinations 7) Plan for a fine-grained mix of uses to create a vital district. The mix of uses should be complementary to each other and not impede public access along the waterfront. With this in mind, a wide variety of uses are possible on the waterfront, including residential, office, hotel, entertainment, and retail, as well as marketplaces, museums, music venues and other civic uses that bring economic and cultural enhancements to the waterfront and the city as a whole. 8) Design buildings that respond to the waterfront condition. The first floor of the buildings should meet the street, especially on the main street corridors. As the land drops off to the waterfront and along the piers, ground- floor parking will raise the first floor of the building above the flood plan, but should be carefully designed to maintain the integrity of the street in these cases. The scale of the buildings should step down as they approach the waterfront to enhance the pedestrian character and to allow views from buildings further inland.