This is an interesting article discussing 'urban blue space' (sometimes known as waterfronts) and ideas for how to envision their future.
"[Urban blue space] is a social space of gathering, labor, economic exchange, recreation, subsistence fishing, cultural tradition and journey-making, as well as an ecological space of watershed catchment, primary productivity, near-shore habitat, species migration and, often, environmental degradation. Urban blue space is a more complicated concept than “waterfront” and better captures the intersecting imperatives of sustainable urban development. While a waterfront suggests a firm boundary—literally, that which fronts the water, with connotations forged in the experience of late modern cities, namely trade, piers, industry, tourism and retail/leisure promenades—urban blue space is broader, more complex and more permeable. It is a kind of place that makes room for the ecological, in both a social and an environmental sense. In the same way that “green space” signals a civic and environmental good, urban blue space suggests a shared public place. It is adjacent to, part of and informed by the characteristics of the water, sky and associated aquatic ecosystems that extend beyond the city’s jurisdictional boundaries. Urban blue space is a regional commons."
The full article by A.T. Wessells, 2014, is here: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/4/4/764/pdf
Suggested to Nancy Aten by Shawn Graff, who has extensive experience in consulting with local governments, foundations and non-profit organizations on fundraising, site planning, historic preservation and long-range planning
(Sent via Center Line Community Forum)