An ecological approach to riverfronts revitalization :the case of Abu Ali River corridor in Tripoli -

Abstract

This thesis seeks to develop an ecological urban design strategy to address deteriorating urban rivers that have lost over time most of their ecological functions, as well as their spatial and cultural relations to cities and people. Within the context of cities with historic urban cores, cultural heritage has primarily focused on the built urban fabric neglecting the rivers that gave reason for their location. The city of Tripoli is such a case where some urban and planning zoning or master plans have neglected the integration of the Abu River into the urban and social fabric of the city. Accordingly, this thesis investigates the application of an integrated approach that combines two disciplines urban design and landscape ecology to integrate river systems into the cultural heritage design of cities where the natural and built environment are perceived as a single entity rather than separate ones. It defines six theoretical themes: time, complexity, hierarchy, spatial structure, typology, and connectivity; these are used as analytical tools to develop a multi scale analysis approach for the Abu Ali River. The scales of analysis range from the landscape to site levels in order to propose an ecological urban design strategy that would contribute towards re-integrating the river into the city as a public amenity, and revitalizing its ecological and cultural values. To achieve its goals, cross cutting themes are extracted from urban design and landscape ecological literature. Different types of urban and landscape design strategies and interventions that are applicable to the study area are extracted after the analysis of six case studies on urban rivers. An in-depth analysis of the site at the said scales led to the definition of three character zones that have different ecological and cultural values. Strategies for each character zone were developed taking into account the built fabric and the river morphology and ecological condition. A master plan was developed in more depth for the transition zone