GREEN & BLUE INFRASTRUCTURE
a hotel , and the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre to the south . Besides the challenging site , the budget for this project was eventually limited to just 20 US dollars per square meter , and it was expected to be finished in a very short timeline of 18 months . The project was overseen by the army , with very little experience and skills in landscape projects .
In addition to the high risk of urban flooding , the canal at the north border is heavily contaminated . Except for a small tobacco factory museum and a sports center , there are no required programs for the site . The design was the result of an international competition .
3 . Design objectives and strategies In addressing the multiple challenges of the site and the city , the project was intended to be designed as a central park that can provide holistic ecosystem services to the city , including stormwater regulation to adapt to the changing monsoon climate . It was also intended to demonstrate a nature-based solution to cleansing ubiquitously polluted urban water , life supporting for native species , and also as a public space badly needed for daily recreational activities and other cultural services . For these objectives , three strategies were applied :
3.1 Recycle and reuse All existing trees on the site have been preserved and integrated . To keep the budget low , all main roads of the existing grid are also being preserved . Both the sports center and museum are designed using the existing factory buildings , which will be fully integrated into the landscape . The demolished concrete materials will be recycled for the earthwork foundation and paving .
3.2 Creating porosity and wetlands Firstly , cut-and-fill is used to create wetlands dotted with islets . Without importing or exporting earthwork , three constructed wetlands scattered with hundreds of mini-
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