How can landscape strategy make the unavailable coastal areas that are influenced by motorways more accessible?

Abstract

Globally, there are more than 3.5 billion people living close to the coast, or within about 100 kilometres of it, which means this huge population relies heavily on the coastal and marine environment. The value and importance of coastal areas are largely embodied in terms of settlement, economy, environment, transportation and recreation. However, due to some limitations, including human activities such as urbanisation and developments on waterfronts, or natural factors such as rough landforms or coastal hazards, some coastal areas with huge potential may be unavailable and inaccessible to people.

This study focuses on coastal areas that are affected by the construction of motorways, which are regarded as representative of modern urbanisation and have a crucial function for the majority of cities. Through case studies which deal with relevant issues, I learned some methods, inspiration and techniques which have been adapted as part of my own design. Shoal Bay, the research site, located between the Auckland city centre and the North Shore centre, Takapuna, possesses potential to be a new coastal landmark. However, State Highway 1 along Northcote Point severs the connection between the local community and the existing adjacent coastal areas. In order to protect existing ecological habitats for seabirds, most coastal development is discouraged by relevant agencies, so to a large extent the current narrow coastal strip is almost unavailable and difficult for the public to access.

The proposed design concentrates on four perspectives: connectivity, availability, protection and ecological mitigation. It aims to achieve coherent connections combined with the proposed Skypath to Takapuna, and create larger available coastal areas through beach nourishment techniques. Further design will provide protective elements for the motorway and nearby residential housing areas from predicted coastal hazards. Finally, there will be specific design methods to ensure the mitigation of the possible ecological loss caused by hard construction to create a harmonious, multifunctional coastal park.