In Chaoyang District, there is a river with a total length of nearly 10 kilometers, which once made nearby residents cover their noses and walk around because of the dirty and messy environment. Today, it has become a new landmark in Chaoyang and a "golden business card" of the capital's international tourism consumption.
Recently, a reporter from the Beijing News came to the Liangma River with the Beijing theme interview activity of "High-quality Development Research Trip" to learn about the river governance story of Chaoyang District's urban renewal driven by river rejuvenation.
On October 12, citizens took a cruise on the Liangma River at night. Photo by Beijing News reporter Wang Guibin
The relay implementation of the six major projects makes the waterfront lingering
With a total length of 9.3 kilometers, the Liangma River has witnessed Beijing's urban development, and at the same time, it has been shaped by the process of urbanization, and the relationship between the city and the river, and the relationship between people and the river is also changing. Zhu Yalei, deputy director of the Chaoyang District Water Bureau, is very familiar with the river, and he remembers that before 1998, the banks of the Liangma River were mainly rural, and the river's functions were mainly for flood control and agricultural irrigation.
From 1999 to 2019, the urbanization of Chaoyang District accelerated, with the Kunlun Hotel, Lufthansa Friendship Shopping Center, the second and third embassy areas being built one after another, and the pollution control and environmental improvement of the Liangma River were also underway. However, the governance is single, the water is the water, the shore is the shore, the enterprises along the river are all operated by the river, and the shore space is divided and managed by multiple subjects such as water affairs, greening and enterprises, and it is difficult for citizens to pass along the river.
"From the perspective of traffic and environment, the Liangma River has a great impact on residents, and there are many international friends around, and the image of the river also represents the image of the city, so it is imperative to further transform the Liangma River." Zhu Yalei said.
Since 2019, Chaoyang District has proposed to promote urban renewal through river rejuvenation, implement waterfront co-governance and systematic governance, and promote the synchronous promotion of "building-green space-water surface" in the section above the fourth ring of the Liangma River (4.6 km) through the simultaneous promotion of shore function dredging and river ecological governance, creating a natural ecological riverbank and waterfront landscape belt; The implementation of the Maijia Bridge and the Haoyun Bridge planning and transformation, 2 lanes into 4 lanes, the flat bridge into a micro arch bridge, not only to solve the traffic congestion on the bridge, but also to achieve navigation and traffic under the bridge; Shoreline lights, lawn lights, and tree lights are designed in layers, customized light shows are staged at Friendship Bridge, Lembongan Bridge, Platinum Palace Gate, etc., and the buildings in the Blue Harbor and Good Luck Street commercial areas are carefully illuminated......
Through the implementation of "six major projects" such as river remediation, bridge renovation, slow traffic connection, landscape lighting, river and lake connection and tourism navigation, the Liangma River International Style Waterfront was opened to the public in August 2020; In July 2021, the 2-kilometer tourist ship from the East Third Ring Road to Chaoyang Lake will be realized; In September 2022, the 6-kilometer tourism navigation was realized, and "one river, two lakes, 24 bridges and 18 scenes" were built, and the "ancient capital Jingyun and Liangma River international style waterfront" were built in an all-round way; In 2023, the Lufthansa Bridge waterfront channel will be completed, the last trail break point above the fourth ring of the Liangma River will be opened, and 18 kilometers of high-quality waterfront greenway with "horizontal series and vertical access" will be completed, realizing the "triple network integration" of water network, green network and road network.
Today's Liangma River, fashion, literature and art, nature collide here, leisure, tourism, consumption are integrated here, more and more bookstores, cafes and restaurants have settled down on the riverside, and this area has become the area with the highest concentration of black pearls and Michelin restaurants in Beijing. Whether it's a Range Rover ride, a drink on the shore, a paddle board, a "city walk", a visit to the first store, or even a daze and a relaxation, Liangma River has become the best choice.
On October 12th, the Liangma River cruise ship Langang Pier. Photo by Beijing News reporter Wang Guibin
The waterfront passage trail is connected, and the third ring road is no longer far away
On the evening of October 12, Mr. Hu, a citizen, walked with his son on the bank of the Liangma River. "My family lives in Shaoyaoju, and my lover works near here, so my son and I will come here for a walk in the evening, waiting for my lover to get off work." Mr. Hu said that he likes to lean on the railing by the river to enjoy the scenery, and he found that the railing here is different, and the handrails will slope slightly downward, which is just right for people to put their hands when viewing the scenery. "If the handrails are horizontal, they may be uncomfortable to lean on."
"The setting of the Liangma River landscape has been carefully crafted, and the railing of the riverside is inclined down 13 degrees, which is once and once adjusted according to the sense of experience." Zhu Yalei said that the governance of the Liangma River follows the principle of people-oriented, open and sharing, and many details reflect this. For example, in addition to the function of retaining soil, the river retaining wall is also designed as a seat for tourists, and after repeated trials, the height of the retaining wall has been adjusted from 55 cm to 45 cm; The lighting is also a meter by meter test carried by workers carrying light poles, and the final interval is determined to be 27 meters, with the best visual effect and comfort.
The construction of the project will inevitably disturb the people, and the people-oriented concept and the way of social co-governance make the governance of the river fully respond to the needs of people. "At the beginning, everyone didn't understand and felt that it was disturbing the people, so we invited resident representatives and enterprises along the route to conduct research and exchange together, convey the ideas of government departments, understand the needs of residents and enterprises, and integrate everyone's ideas into the design and construction process." Zhu Yalei remembers that when the project was nearing its end, some residents came to ask if they could open it earlier.
"Some people have reported that it is too inconvenient to walk through the third ring road, and it takes seven or eight minutes to take a detour and wait for the traffic light. In fact, there are 5 bridges on the Liangma River that were originally partitioned, and the waterfront promenade is not passable. In order to facilitate the passage of the public, we decided to build a waterfront passage to achieve pedestrian connectivity. Zhu Yalei introduced that the construction of waterfront passages is very difficult. Taking the Lufthansa Bridge as an example, the water surface of the river is only 70 cm to the bottom of the original Lufthansa Bridge, and there are more than 20 municipal pipelines at the bottom of the river.
In June 2023, the 18-kilometer waterfront slow traffic system of the Liangma River will be completed, and it only takes 116 meters to walk from the Lufthansa Bridge waterfront passage to pass through the Third Ring Road, which takes only one and a half minutes. The reporter saw that barrier-free elevators were also set up at both ends of the passage to facilitate the use of special groups.
The story of river governance continues, and the third phase of Liangma is advancing
Li Yanjun, design director of AECOM and head of the design of the Liangma River project, is proud and pleased with the butterfly changes of the Liangma River. "In this project, we met the 'most difficult Party A', the Chaoyang District Water Affairs Bureau has a high position and strict requirements, and it is rare to see Party A who frequently runs the site like them in my career." Recalling the days of non-stop meetings and discussions, on-site research, and design modifications, he was very emotional.
Li Yanjun remembers that in the design stage, he participated in one or two hundred meetings, where representatives from different neighborhoods and communities, enterprises, government departments and other parties discussed together. The number of times I went to the Liangma River site is also too many to count, and sometimes three or four days a week I am at the Liangma River to investigate and discuss solutions.
"We are still under a lot of pressure, because the management of the river is not only about the ecology of the river, the lives of the surrounding residents and the environment of the enterprises, but also about the image of the capital, and we are determined to keep improving." Zhu Yalei said that the governance of the Liangma River has changed from "one governance" in the past to "government-led, enterprise participation, and social co-governance", and all departments work together.
Li Yanjun believes that indoor discussions, on-site research and plan modifications are responsible for the project, citizens and the city, "I also have a sense of mission and don't want to leave regrets." ”
Nowadays, Li Yanjun still often comes to Liangma River, he likes to go to his own completed projects to appreciate, inspect, "I will also chat with citizens and tourists, ask them how they feel, everyone has a high evaluation of the current Liangma River, think that the landscape here is beautiful, the trails are convenient, the facilities are perfect, as a designer, I am very happy to see that the project can receive so many praise, the past efforts are very worthwhile." ”
During the design phase, Li Yanjun often said that "the design of Liangmahe is not completed, only in progress", and today, this sentence is also applicable.
Zhu Yalei introduced that at present, Chaoyang District's river governance story of urban renewal driven by river rejuvenation is continuing to update, and Chaoyang District is promoting the waterfront space management of the lower section of the fourth ring of the Liangma River and the third phase of the Liangma River route, continuing to improve the Liangma River, from one river to both banks, and then to the area, to promote the construction of the Liangma River Economic Belt. At the same time, the Liangma River model has been replicated in the whole area, and new waterfront space has been added to the Bahe River (the section from INDIGO to Langyuan), linking the three major business districts of INDIGO, Langyuan Station and Lido to improve the living environment of the communities along the line.
Source: Beijing News
Author: Ye Hongmei Wang Guibin
Process edit: u070