This master plan is a 25-year roadmap to transform the post-industrial lands along the Delaware River into a vibrant urban waterfront. OLIN focused on enhancing the urban ecology of Philadelphia in order to promote social equity and economic well-being. The plan proposes providing access to public parks at half-mile intervals along the entire 6-mile length of the study area, using landscape as the connective tissue between new and old fragments of the city. The plan will also increase tree cover and biomass to improve air quality and diminish heat island effect; increase impervious land to contribute to stormwater management goals; and restore riparian continuity by extending ecotones between mud flats, low marsh succulents, high marsh diverse vegetation, and healthy uplands.
Architectural development within the plan promotes private development for post-industrial warehouses, piers, and brownfields, and will extend land use of adjacent neighborhoods. During the first decade of implementation, public parks, streets, and a network of bicycle and pedestrian pathways will extend neighborhoods by connecting to the waterfront perpendicularly access across Interstate 95. In moving away from an auto-centric environment, improved bus and transit connections will be enhanced in the short-term, while long-term plans will further analyze ferry service and a light-rail connector.
Three priority sites for development—Washington, Penn’s Landing and Spring Garden—will act as economic triggers for catalytic private development. Done in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team that included Cooper, Robertson & Partners, KieranTimberlake and HR&A Advisors, the OLIN team engaged with more than 30 stakeholder groups to build consensus for the final master plan.
