Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Developers of the Point Street Landing development on the Hudson River in Yonkers, N.Y. began their project by
determining what the character of the public spaces should be.
Successful waterfront destinations reach out to entire community, as happens with Paris Plage, a month-long celebration
that creates a beach to the Seine River in Paris.
Granville Island has created an abundance of user-friendly destinations while preserving the sites industrial character.
After establishing the public spaces and public goals, begin the public visioning process
with the existing assets and surrounding context. Start with the historical form and
function of the site to foster a locally grounded identity by channeling former vibrancy
into a variety of uses. Existing industrial uses should be preserved when compatible with
human activity on the waterfront. Surrounding neighborhoods should be integrated into
the waterfront to strengthen connectivity between destinations. And new development
should embrace its waterfront context with appropriate orientation and usages.
A community visioning plan for Brooklyns Pier 6 (left). The existing design did not benefit from a community process, and
the community did not feel it reflected its needs (right).
After multiple place evaluation workshops, a variety of community stakeholders, public agencies, and private firms produced
a collective vision for a broad range of uses to draw people to Newarks waterfront.
continuous public access are much more popular than those where public space is
interrupted. Even small stretches where the waterfront is unavailable to people greatly
diminish the experience. Californias Balboa Island, located off the coast of Newport
Beach, makes its entire shoreline accessible to the public instead of giving waterfront
property owners sole rights of use.
Access also means that people can actually interact with the water in numerous ways
from swimming and fishing, to picnicking dockside and feeding the ducks. If it is not
possible to actually dip their hands in the water, people should have access to another
type of water nearbysuch as a fountain, spray play area or a swimming pool that floats
next to the shore (such as the pools set up in the Seine during Paris Plage).
PPS was asked to assess the strongest locations and connections for new waterfront destinations on Vancouvers False Creek.
Boardwalks, such as this one in Cleveland, provide opportunities for people to interact with wildlife along natural shorelines.
Temporary uses on Brooklyns Pier 1 provide a successful example of how low-cost improvements can triangulate with their
surroundings to create great destinations.
Porto, Portugals residential component provides reciprocal benefit for the active public life below.
Even on a blustery day, the seafront in Brighton, England still draws a crowd because of its flexible design and destinations
that are open all year round.
Waterfire, a pyrotechnic public art project, brings crowds to downtown Providence in the evening hours.
Despite minimal funding, Long Island Citys Water Taxi Beach provides a compelling example of the potential for NYCs
waterfront by successfully layering uses.
Book and art stalls pull in curious browsers along the Seine in Paris.
Water features on Granville Island create an alternative connection where direct access to the water is not possible.
In Porto, Portugals Ribiera district streets are scaled for pedestrians, and motor vehicles allowed only as guests.
Brooklyns Coney Island has developed its own unique image over the years.
Waterfront fish markets contribute to the identity of Oslos Aker Brygge Waterfront.
Water polo matches played in kayaks has emerged as an intriguing attraction at New Yorks Frying Pan Bar and Restaurant
on the Hudson River in Manhattan.
Stavanger, Norways waterfront features active programming on and off the water.
Active and evolving programming, as seen here in San Francisco, is essential to waterfront success and may also be used to
generate revenues.