Urban wetland planning: A case study in the Beijing central region

Urban wetlands, a complex social-economic-natural ecosystem, are known to provide many valuable ecological benefits to urban ecosystems. There has been much achievement related to wetland research, however, the research on urban wetland planning is lag. In this paper, the methodology on urban wetland planning was explored from the viewpoint of urban planning. Firstly, the major ecological services of urban wetlands, i.e., its efficacies on water purification, flood control, local microclimate adjustment, and scenic creation and cultural heritage are thoroughly discussed based on the ecological complexity research on urban wetland. Then, from the viewpoint of urban wetland planning, urban wetlands were classified as flood control wetlands, water purification wetlands, cultural, scenic wetlands, etc. Urban wetland planning techniques were proposed, including the setting of main functions; the appropriate locations of urban wetlands; the calculation of urban wetland areas; the determination of urban wetland spatial distribution, and the method of estimating ecological water requirements. Finally, after an in-depth investigation of the wetland situations in Beijing, a document for urban wetland planning in Beijing central region was drafted in accordance with development objectives set forth by Beijing government. In the planning, the acreage and spatial location of each type of urban wetlands were determined, and estimates of ecological water requirement by urban wetlands and its deployment were also given. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.