Development of LID Design Systems for Waterfront Cities

The Four Major Rivers Restoration Project aimed at rehabilitating the rivers was conducted in Korea as part of efforts to implement comprehensive measures for flood control, reliable water supply, and development of environmentally friendly waterfronts through the effective utilization of water resources. Backed by the enactment of the Special Act on the Utilization of Waterfront Zones, Korea is currently in the process of developing new towns in the waterfront zones that have been rehabilitated by the project. The new waterfront cities were developed with the following three principles in consideration of their geographical locations close to the rivers: first, minimizing the occurrence of extreme flood disasters caused by river overflow; second, minimizing pollutant load and rainfall runoff; and third, harmoniously coexisting with the ecological, historical, cultural, and landscaping values of the rivers. To ensure that all of these development principles can be followed, the formulation of water cycle plans has been made a compulsory part of urban planning. In Korea, LID (low-impact development) technologies have attracted increasing attention as technologies that have the capability to implement plans for developing cities based on the new values of harmony with natural rivers. Currently, however, urban design is being challenged because the introduction of the technologies is still at their early stage. The purpose of this study is to develop modules allowing a cost-effective design of LID technologies that are required for urban planning. The foregoing development will facilitate not only the application of many LID element technologies in urban planning but also the analysis of their effects, enabling the formulation of an optimal design plan through the cost-effectiveness analysis of their alternative scenarios.