Re-envisioning the Lulu Island Waterfront, Richmond, BC

January 18, 2024.

Satellite Image of Lulu Island, Richmond, BC.

  • A project in Richmond

  • Used to have 20 islands; diked everything, now one big island

  • City has bought tracts of land; developing new riverfront park

  • Reshape how Richmond engages with waterfront for social and ecological rejuvenation; right now, very locked into diking master plan

  • 1 m above sea level; really vulnerable to SLR, flooding, dikes to earthquakes

  • Values: Long-standing relationships of Musqueam to area; food

  • Plans to create a superdike (5 m) but this will disconnect communities from the river; Close proximity to Hwy 99, Airport, Warehouse development = lack of vibrancy on the streets and ground; Unaffordability (dichotomy between high end residential markets and gentrification); Privatisation of waterfront = waterfront is not open and accessible to all

  • Vision: What if water is centred?

    • Room for the river

    • Grey to blue-green spaces integrated with development

    • Inclusive community and stewardship; cultural diversity

    • New cultural promenade- new landing point to connect city and river

    • Fragmented to interconnected forms

    • Diverse urban spaces

    • Strategic infill and densification

    • Phased retreat- cultural space → wetland; move critical functions further away from the river; hosting new functions alongside the river; restoring ecological functions

    • Adaptive waterfront, landscape buffers (e.g., sponge park)

    • Integrating other functions into dikes, like playgrounds, habitat, recreational functions that can be given back to river to occupy during flood events

  • Precedents: Dale Hodges Park, Calgary; Zalige Bridge, Netherlands--where water is embraced within site design

  • Teams will be presenting projects to the city!