Discover Shanghai Houtan Park, a project that reclaimed an industrial area of Shanghai with gardens, urban agriculture, and ecological solutions
Submitted at Sep 14, 2026, 4:00 PM
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On the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, a former industrial site has taken on a new function: to serve as a park, a leisure area and, at the same time, ecological infrastructure. Shanghai Houtan Park was designed by the firm Turenscape as a regenerative landscape capable of restoring a degraded territory and creating new relationships between city, nature and water.
Designed in 2007 and built for the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the park covers about 14 hectares in a linear strip along the river. The site previously housed a steel factory and a shipyard, and also functioned as a disposal and storage area for industrial materials.
More than inserting vegetation into an urban area, the project sought to make landscaping a tool for environmental recovery. Among the main challenges were the pollution of the Huangpu River, erosion of the riverbank, and the need to control flooding without creating a rigid barrier between the city and the water.
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The response was to create a landscape capable of performing different functions simultaneously: treating water, controlling floods, providing habitat for species, producing food and creating spaces for gathering.
One of the main features of Shanghai Houtan Park is the constructed wetland, an artificial wet area approximately 1.7 kilometers long. Cascades, terraces and different plant species were arranged to contribute to water oxygenation, nutrient retention and sediment reduction.
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According to Turenscape, field tests indicated a capacity to treat about 2,400 cubic meters of water per day – improving its quality from Grade V to Grade III! The system also works as a kind of buffer zone for floods, bringing the public closer to the riverbank in a safer way.
The park's landscape incorporates references to ancient Chinese agricultural fields. Terraces were created to overcome the difference in level between the avenue and the river, reduce water runoff and, at the same time, host crops and wetland plants.
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The choice of vegetation follows the seasons of the year, with different colors, textures and crops. Thus, agriculture ceases to be merely productive and becomes part of the aesthetic and educational experience of the space.
The project did not erase the site's past. Industrial structures and materials were incorporated into the new landscape, transformed into hanging gardens, platforms, shelters and sculptural elements. Reused steel panels, for example, help create framings for the landscape and for the Shanghai skyline.
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This dialogue between nature and industrial memory is one of the park's most striking characteristics: rather than completely replacing what existed, the project transforms traces of the past into part of the contemporary experience.
Shanghai Houtan Park shows how a park can do much more than beautify the city. Paths, vegetation, agriculture, water and built structures work together to create a productive and resilient landscape. Among other recognitions, the project received the Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2010.
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By transforming a former industrial site into a public space and ecological system, the park presents an idea that is increasingly relevant to cities: landscaping can be part of the infrastructure and help solve environmental problems while creating places for gathering, contemplation and learning.
This text was developed with the help of CASACOR Publisher, an exclusive content agent developed by CASACOR's Technology team based on the knowledge base of casacor.com.br. The generated content was subsequently edited by Yeska Coelho.
