The Jiangyin Greenway is more than just an elevated walkway – it seeks to generate better urban spaces.

The Jiangyin Greenway is an elevated walkway which extends over an existing urban park in the heart of Jiangyin city for 4,7km. Its curvilinear form allows pedestrians to navigate over several major roads, while connecting the green spaces over which it sits. A number of amenities, including playgrounds, pavilions, cafes, theatre stages and music stations, are all accessible from the greenway, fulfilling the opportunity for Jiangyin to assert itself as a creative, progressive and liveable city within Jiangsu Province, China.

Creating meaningful spaces

The Jiangyin Greenway belongs to a growing movement in China towards healthy, sustainable transportation and urban enjoyment. Infrastructure of this scale has an opportunity, or more correctly a responsibility, to create meaningful places in the city.

It will consist of four clearly identifiable segments, each with a unique response to the spirit of the place in which it is located. The northern segment of the loop has already been built and passes through the docklands’ parks, reflecting the history of shipbuilding and its port function. Jiangyin owes its existence to the Yangtze River, so the eastern segment of the loop leads to the river and responds to the significance of it.

The river story

The Yangtze River is a remarkable natural phenomenon, but the hustle and bustle of everyday city life can lead to it being taken for granted. This piece of urban infrastructure is an opportunity to remind the public of the extraordinary aspects of this mighty river. The greenway path has become a scaled model of the Yangtze River, with the cities and tributaries along its length becoming plazas and balconies. At these locations, visitor information boards place these events into the larger river story.

Efficient transportation

The greenway is elevated off the ground for its entire length. Stairs located at street intersections link existing pedestrian paths to the new greenway while stitching paths ensure that it is connected to the rest of the park, the adjacent streets and pedestrian circulation networks.

Steel and concrete

To reduce the impact on the park, the entire greenway is built in prefabricated steel sections. This steel structure with a coloured bituminous concrete screed gives the greenway both the potential for prefabrication and a durable low-maintenance, long-wearing surface.

Full acknowledgement and thanks go to www.current-newswire.com for the information in this editorial.

Images by Pavel Shubskiy – Egghead Photo

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