Yantai Nanshan Park

PROJECT STATEMENT

Yantai Nanshan Park ties together the city and the wide surrounding mountain area, and brings transformation of regional positioning corresponding to city expansion, which is able to relieve the stress of development of the old urban district of Yantai. Before the exploitation, there was once a field of cropland and forest combined with barren land. And now, the design team takes the establishment of Nanshan Park as an opportunity to introduce the concept of  Nanshan district. As a zone of driving ecological culture and economic development, the construction of Nanshan District involves natural landscape system restoration, urbanization, rural development and industry expanding, in this way realizing a win-win status of ecological protection and economic development.

PROJECT NARRATIVE

Background

Yantai is one of the central cities in Shandong Peninsula, also an important harbor city in Circum-Bohai-Sea Region. The old urban district of Yantai develops fast along the coastline, while the southern region slowly.  However, with rapid urbanization nowadays, how to cope with the stress of development of the old urban district of Yantai and drive the joint-development of southern district to accomplish the goal of mountain-sea city has become the urgent issues.

Design Intent: A brand new mountain-sea city

Yantai Nanshan Park was planned and designed by Beijing Beilin Scenery Garden Design and Planning Institute Co, Ltd, which was completed in three phases. The investment of the Yantai Nanshan Park is 1.2 billion RMB. The total area of the whole park is 228 hectares and it is divided into the east and west areas by a Provincial highway, where the western district is the main active area, and the eastern district is the public mountain area. With the cooperation of the design team, the once wasteland has became an active public park. Speaking of ecological benefits, the constructive area will promote sustainable development of Yantai City. And as for economic benefits, the startup of the project is in favor of talent attraction and comprehensive development in this region. In order to carry forward the transformation and upgrading of southern region of Yantai, the construction of Yantai Nanshan Park is of great significance.

Remodeling ecosystem: Landscape system repair and water protection

In this region, the mountain catchment has formed natural gullies inside the site, two of which has become the reservoirs at flat areas with construction work of villagers, supporting their daily irrigation and water use. At that time, new urban planning moved the village and constructed a new main road between the mountain and the flat areas. In this way, the connection between the gullies and the reservoirs was cut, lowering down the water level and making water gathering along one side of the road. For the purpose of solving this problem, The design firstly placed additional culverts below the constructed road, cutting through the barrier of the road. Then moved the planned roads inside the site partially to avoid the natural gullies and mountains and make full use of the current situation to achieve the landscape effect and reduce the overall engineering work. The planned roads are demoted and integrated with the park road system. In this way, on the premise of not changing the nature of the road, the intervene of the road line to the site is minimized. In the west of the site, the lake embankment was repaired and artificial streams were constructed at the low-lying site, Then water of two reservoirs was brought into the lake, creating a beautiful lake landscape simulating the wild nature.

 Yantai Nanshan Park also sets an great example of dealing with storm water. When it rains, surface runoff of the park is gathered along the trend of the terrain, and rain water is collected and recycled in low-lying areas, some of which are designed as constructed wetlands, forming various sizes of bio-retention facilities. During the rainy season, the flood discharge pressure of the urban drainage system can be reduced, and during the dry season, the collected rain water will be used in the park, as supplement of the groundwater or participating the atmospheric water cycle.

Economic drive: Scientific value, resource saving and industrial linkage

This park is considered a geological representative place, for it has collected more than 1200 kinds of typical and model plant including native plant, tropical rainforest plant, desert plant and marine plant. The increasingly number of plant species has improved regional biodiversity, thus  enhancing the ecosystem stability. The abundant spatial structure of plant provides ample space for different plants and forms a resilient plant landscape, making Yantai Nanshan Park an significant place for cultivation, research and exhibition of science popularization. It also provides visitors with a wealth of activities and venues. People here will have the chance to experience interesting gardening, walking alongside the winding flower borders under lush trees, enjoying the sight of ornamental plants with unique features and playing in the children's paradise full of fairy tales. The central public area connects the west and the east part of the park, naturally attracts tourists to the mountain tourism area, where visitors can walk through the woods and breathe fresh air in the forest, making them have an intimate contact with nature and feel the wild mountains.

Through landscape performance calculations, the carbon sequestration rises ten times. The fee of reducing CO2 emission of Yantai City has been decreasing. The filtration system and biological facilities have made the water body realize the capability of self-purification, saving huge amount of operating and maintenance cost. The main entrance building is an environmental symbol. The roof of the whole building is covered by green plants with an area of 4768 m2 and the ability to intercept rain, and flood runoff can reach 43L/s, with the purpose of extending the service life of buildings, reducing the energy consumption of buildings, and further developing green space to achieve ecological energy conservation.

Yantai Nanshan Park is also an engine of industrial linkage. This place used to be a piece of barren land. Farmers annually grew crops like sweet potatoes and taros, which was the only economic activity happened here. After the establishment of Yantai Nanshan Park, the bare field was all covered by different kinds of plant. As the engine of regional development, Yantai Nanshan Park has made the real estate, cultural and creative industry and urban agricultural leisure appear in surrounding areas. All of this development spurred by the park will contribute to a projected population increase and property values. And that will promote the upgrading and transforming of industries in southern region of the city.

A Design Paradigm Under the Tendency Of Urban Expansion

Through the cooperation of architects, city planners and park designers, Yantai Nanshan Park didn’t completely follow the master plan of the city but created the most appropriate way of design. With its excellent practice on ecology, society and economy, Yantai Nanshan Park has become an important carrier of Mountain-Sea city culture and the core of the green barrier，which further enhanced the regional sustainable development and core competitiveness.