ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 reflects on the potentials of the archetypical waterfront to achieve sustainable development through waterfront regeneration originated from the existing spatial and social drivers. It looks at the emblematic area of Palau’s waterfront to delve into the interaction of the Waterfront Qualities of Permeability and Dynamics and into the sustainability of the waterfront, across the three spatial scales of Waterfront, Town and Region. This leads to the identification of the potential threats to the sustainable development prospects of the archetypical waterfront, and to demonstrate the interdependence of the various scales of interventions in waterfront design decisions.
Based on these premises, a theoretical model for waterfront design is formulated by identifying the ‘Nine Sustainable Attributes of Waterfront Design’, which are drawn from a further specification of the Waterfront Qualities of Identity, Permeability and Dynamics, and inferred from the interpretation of the key findings and the support of the existing literature.
The Nine Sustainable Attributes of Waterfront Design thus designated are intended as prerequisites for a sustainable urban development. Their aim is first, to assess the spatial and social resources, secondly, to indicate how to use these resources in a sustainable manner, and lastly, to suggest resilient strategies and recycling mechanism, to guide the process of transformation of the environmental infrastructures, for a more sustainable practice in waterfront design.
From a theoretical model to the practice and implementation of waterfront design, the chapter moves forward with a proposal for ‘Design guidelines and planning strategy for sustainable waterfront regeneration’, which is a design tool to be utilised as a guide for both the design process and the assessment of the level of sustainability of an individual project. It systematises the range of sustainable qualities and goals that are essential to attain sustainability across different spatial scales, to demonstrate that when a single design measure is released at one given urban scale, it affects the level of sustainability at all scales, as the port town is a complex system of interrelated components.
These reflections are significant and well-timed because, if the phenomenon of waterfront regeneration has led to many successful outcomes around the world, the many attempts to replicate the same formula over and over again, are likely to spoil the uniqueness of the individual waterfront, and sometimes even to contribute to the decline of the area they are supposed to regenerate.
