Ecological Urbanism: Examples of Problem Solving with Existing Natural Objects

Russian cities are now making a big urban breakthrough. Somewhere (for example, in Moscow) people have already become accustomed to revolutionary changes in the urban environment, but someone’s leadership (for example, Chelyabinsk) in such matters surprises an inexperienced observer.

The lack of green spaces in large cities due to their constant development is a problem that many metropolitan areas have to deal with. Even the term eco-urbanism has appeared, implying an effective hybrid between nature and engineering. Architects are thinking about how to stop considering nature as an enemy and make the most of its benefits, and design buildings in such a way as to fit naturally into the landscape of the urban environment.

There are examples of successful implementation of the ideas of ecological urbanism in the world. One can recall the project to save the swampy embankment near the Gu Dao Canal in Tianjin, China, where they came up with the Sponge City Strategy. Vertical gardening with fruit and vegetable balconies is being implemented in Brussels’ Tour & Taxis park-area on the site of an abandoned seaport and an old fish market.

There are eco-urbanism projects in action in Russia as well. In addition to Moscow, which sets the tone in this direction, the trend has appeared in other cities. For example, in Kazan, developers are creating more and more parks and eco-spaces. In Tobolsk, a project for the improvement of the Alexander Garden, based on the principles of eco-urbanization, received state support.

It was also decided to make the most of nature for good in the city located not far from the Ural Mountains, the oldest in the world, Chelyabinsk. In this metropolis there is the river Miass. She runs all over Chelyabinsk, including the center. City pressure played a bad service for her – the channel narrowed due to shallowing, somewhere the river was overgrown with reeds, and there was simply no embankment as such in the millionth city. Everything began to change when, at the end of 2020, local authorities presented a grandiose project to equip 115 kilometers of the embankment. Part of the project has already been implemented.

Experts are confident that this will be a unique facility for Russia – the longest unified embankment system. It will unite five districts of the city (there are seven of them in Chelyabinsk) through which the river flows. The coastline will be divided into so-called waves – sports, cultural and health. On the embankment, there are also cascading zones with parks, and bike paths, and small “Instagram” bridges along which you can cross the river and take pictures (there are already three large bridges in the kilometer zone in the city center – they have existed for a long time). The city is excited about this project – new modern residential complexes with penthouses are already appearing along the banks of the river.

The walking area on the embankment in the city center was opened in September 2021. There is a descent to the river for riding on SUPs and kayaks, and a large square with an amphitheater and a stage, and a huge playground with a climbing wall, an explorer’s ship and other small forms that are so far unique for the country. There are, of course, the usual trade and exhibition pavilions, cafes. Additional landscaping has also been carried out here. Even the building of the former power plant was perfectly integrated into the project of the embankment, and a museum is planned to be opened on the basis of this facility. Federal experts, including those from the authoritative architectural telegram channel “Architectural Excesses”, highly appreciated the part of the embankment that has already appeared, assigning it a kind of “Quality Mark”: “The Miass embankment – ​​the implementation of 2021 – is exemplary and delightful in Chelyabinsk.”

The natural object – the river – in Chelyabinsk not only fits harmoniously into urban design, but also solves several problems at once, including environmental ones. The project for the rehabilitation of the Miass River in the city center concerns cleaning the surface of the water and the bottom, solving the problems of runoff ingress, narrowing the channel, and strengthening the coastline. The river comes to life and begins to create new centers of attraction in the city.