The river as Tidal Park

The landscape in the Meuse-Rhine delta was originally an estuary. It is a dynamic landscape characterised by gradual transitions from salt water to fresh water, from deep to shallow, and from wet to dry. The landscape is subject to erosion and sedimentation under the influence of the major rivers and the sea. As a result, the landscape is rich in flora and fauna.

The dynamism of the estuary has been increasingly shackled by human intervention through the centuries, a process that was accelerated with the development of Rotterdam as a port. The infrastructure of the Delta Works keeps the water outside the polders. The banks of the Meuse are to a large extent hard and the depth of the riverine routes has to be maintained for shipping. The river serves the docks and thereby has an enormous economic value, but at the same time has little recreational and ecological value.

Strootman Landschapsarchitecten and De Urbanisten have worked in conjunction with regional parties to develop a landscape framework that offers inspiration and reflects the ambition to turn the river into a Tidal Park. The objective is to make the river more natural, enjoyable, accessible and attractive in the urban setting.The framework is based on four characteristics that are determinant for how the Tidal Park can be implemented. The framework is based on four characteristics that are determinant for how the Tidal Park can be implemented:

1. Specific tidal environments are distinguished that differ from one another in terms of the quantity of salt and nutrients, the water fluctuation and the available space.

2.  It is important to enlarge the contact zone between water and land as much as possible to create tidal nature, and to make use of the hydrodynamics of the river in the process.

3. The adjoining landscapes are very different from one another. Each of them makes contact with the river in a different way. They differ in terms of their subsoil (sea clay, peat, dunes), but also as a result of human intervention (onshore polders, urbanisation and development of the docks).

Using the landscape framework and design principles that have been developed, work can go ahead in the coming decades, creating a sustainable river with an added value for the city in the field of ecology and recreation, community, economy, research and water security.