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Urban Parkscapes 2026

Jal Sutra: Flow, Filter, Flourish

  • Tags

    Public space, Urban Design, Landscape design, productive landscapes, park design, Lake design, parkscapes

Author: Eisha Chandak

Landscaping water, ecology, and urban experience The project reimagines a public open space in Ahmedabad as a living hydrological landscape shaped by water movement, ecological regeneration, and community interaction. Responding to intense rainfall, urban heat, and rapid urbanisation in Vastral, the project treats stormwater as the primary generator of landscape and public life. A layered system of swales, reed beds, wetlands, marshes, detention basins, and filtration edges captures, slows, filters, stores, and recharges water across the site, creating diverse moisture conditions and seasonal ecologies. These hydrological gradients support native planting, biodiversity, and cooling microclimates while forming a continuous ecological corridor within the urban fabric. Pathways, viewing decks, gathering spaces, and vending edges are strategically placed along the water systems, allowing everyday public life to engage closely with seasonal flows and ecological processes. The project positions water not as hidden infrastructure, but as a visible and experiential system that shapes movement, habitat, social interaction, and the identity of the park itself.

An urban hydroscape where water flows through layered wetlands, ecological habitats, and public spaces to create a living landscape of resilience, biodiversity, and everyday interaction.
Mapping Ahmedabad’s hydrological and open-space networks to understand how water systems, land use, and urban growth shape ecological opportunities in Vastral.
Shade, soak, and store — a blue-green strategy that transforms Vastral’s streets and open spaces into a network of cooling landscapes, water retention systems, and ecological corridors.
Cooling Vastral through a connected landscape of soaking, storing, and shading that transforms stormwater into ecology, comfort, and public life.
Flow · Filter · Flourish — A layered hydrological strategy that captures monsoon flows, filters stormwater through ecological systems, and transforms seasonal water cycles into resilient urban landscapes.
Proposed Master Plan — A living water landscape where wetlands, swales, and retention ponds choreograph ecology, recreation, and climate resilience into a connected public realm.
Planting Strategy — A climate-responsive palette of wetland species, native shrubs, and shade trees that strengthens biodiversity, filters water, and creates layered ecological habitats across the landscape.
Spatial Experience & Ecological Sections — A sequence of immersive landscapes where water, vegetation, terrain, and public spaces shape moments of movement, pause, interaction, and reflection within the hydrological park system.
Experiential Landscapes — A journey through flowing wetlands, shaded canopies, elevated walkways, and social pockets where water and ecology shape everyday urban experience.
A Living Hydrological Landscape — Interwoven wetlands, shaded pathways, and layered public spaces transform stormwater into an immersive ecological and social experience.

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