Wadi Hanifah: Urban wildlife park for metropolitan regeneration.

Metropolitan cities worldwide are looking for new strategies to regenerate their neighborhoods with solutions based in nature. Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia is also embracing the idea of bringing back nature to the urban realm for multiple reasons. One is the urgent need to enhance the urban microclimates with green and water that reduce drastically temperatures and generate outdoor comfort. The threat of climate changes in countries with already extreme weathers increasing temperature make almost impossible any activity out of indoors heavily conditioned using artificial methods as air-conditioning. Another reason is social, the need of humans to live close to other natural species, either indigenous vegetation, birds and insects. In the same line, cultural reasons are associated to the spiritual liaison of humans with their environments encouraging reflections and enjoyment. But in addition to all these valid reasons there is an additional, not always evident, one: Economics. Regenerating natural landscapes, even costly in terms of investing on indigenous vegetation and restoration of animal wildlife, is an opportunity to bring real estate value to decay metropolitan areas.

The case of Wadi Hanifah located in the east of the city, presents a typical case of creating an urban reserve in the fragmented areas because highways. The beauty of the project is that restoring natural ecosystems generate a great park that make sense of the terrain below the highway connecting both size of the city. A pedestrian system invites neighbors of one side of the city and from the other side to walk around paying attention to the different indigenous plantation growing up along a creek that structure the whole park. Places for pic-nic and observation post have been designed in order to support those people moving in the border of the project, getting a panoramic view, and those walking-in and or staying in designated areas. The possibility to access the park from the surrounding areas is limited to entry points served with sanitation services and a control-point. The organization in charge of the project, The Royal Commission for Riyadh City, take care that not cars enter the park to avoid damage to the environment where very deliciated restauration operations are on-going. It is done through a perimetral fence of bush and short trees in addition of hidden metal bars.

A sequence of different spaces can be discovered along the sidewalk. From pic-nic areas provided some few facilities, to a sidewalk meandering restored ecosystems, crossing below the highway, it generates a natural linkage among neighborhoods previously separated. It was not only the physical barrier of the highway impeding to cross, but it was also the fact that these neighborhoods respond to different social level and dynamics non existing any glue to associate them. The environmental restoration project creates the mistic to associates previously anonymous neighbours to come together to learn about wildlife. Beyond neighbours, the project attract citizens in general looking for new places to visit and discover in the extensive metropolitan area.

The location of the project between highways provides also a sense of landscape design enhancing the metropolitan profile of the intervention. It is a key message for those using the highway regarding the importance to acknowledge the natural environment as a fundamental pillar of urban sustainability. Water management utilizing ancient techniques of irrigation, soil restoration, energy efficient storage in tanks and distribution, create the suitable natural ecosystem properly technologically supported to transform a previously residual area in a proper natural wildlife park for enjoyment of everyone.

The key question to answer to this project is its impact in the long run in the surrounding areas. Most of the surrounding areas are occupy by logistics and low-income housing but this was also related to the fact that it was just the residual zone left by the construction of the highways. But the fact that the restauration project transforms a residual area into a proper park is a driver to also improve real estate perspective in the surrounding areas. That implies that it is possible that the benefit of the park not only results in an enhanced environment but also in better investment perspectives of developers ready to buy cheap land to produce upper income products. The issue is to ensure that such perspectives do not impact negatively in the environmental standards settle by the restauration project; neither at the urban fabric of popular neighborhoods all around. Time will teach the final outcomes of the project, but for the time being, it is exciting to see what good planning can achieve already in terms of positive environmental impacts, in addition of the social relevance it attracts visitors from many different zones of the metropolitana area. Furthermore, the potential to use the strategy of creating parks to recover wasted land and integrate neighborhoods separated by highways, enhancing real estate perspectives is a valuable asset to be considered as a tool for urban planning. If the projection of the program is right and ecosystems are actually recovered in the coming years it is also feasible to speculate that also the urban decay in the surrounding areas have a chance to also regenerate. But such regeneration requires especially urban rules to really work in terms of environmental respect and sociocultural integration that needs to be developed in the next phase of the program. This requires multidisciplinary skills to succeed, otherwise the risk is to end isolate, not being able to incorporate the social, cultural and economic dimension that any urban regeneration program requires.

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