DAYLIGHTING OF URBAN STREAMS WORLDWIDE
- Resource planners, engineers, ecologists, environmental scientists and landscape architects who specialize in natural systems design and stream restoration reflect the overwhelming attitude that the practice of removing streams from buried conditions (known as ‘daylighting’) restores life and health to streams, reduces flooding (especially in urban locations), saves money, and creates valuable public spaces (Virginia Water Resources Research Center)
- Many cities around the world started to daylight covered streams which were hidden in the underground for many years (Example Seoul).
- Usually a project is started with a Masterplan (stream-/waste water concept), which piece by piece, stream by stream is put in place (Ecample: The London River Action Plan).
- In Europe a kind of gold standard has bee achieved in the city of Zurich: 21km of urban streams have already been daylighted (50 projects in 20 years) and the program is still ongoing. The Zurich motto: “with increased density of settlement a stream as a component of area organization becomes more important”. The success meanwhile has been so convincing that quarters are struggling to be the next for this program. Citizens have dicovered the advantages and want to see them realized for them!
- … (sorry, rest of translation is not yet done)