Suburban waterfront with ecological and recreational function : planning based on network analysis

Urban fringe areas have multiple land uses and are places where sections of waterway, together with fragmented areas of natural vegetation, are often found passing through urban areas, transportation routes and gradually expanding rural areas. These overlapping functions are often the cause of an extremely disorderly landscape devoid of guiding connotative elements. In this context, the waterfront can be a guiding element for the redevelopment of the fringe areas between cities and the countryside. The purpose of this paper is the definition of a methodology for planning a suburban waterfront with an ecological function and bicycle paths for recreational use. The evaluation phases for resources and planning, conducted with tools for network analysis, have identified potential corridors based on current land uses and have addressed the issue of bicycle paths on an inter-municipal scale. The methodology is proposed for regional level planning and the validation of the method was achieved through its application to the stretch of the Lambro River between Monza Park and the city of Milan in the North of Italy.