Author(s): Qinyi Zhang; Nathan Fredrick

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: Climate change; Eco hydraulics; Interdisciplinarity; Political ecology; Dender river; Social- environmental benefits; Human and non-human communities

Abstract: In the context of climate change and environmental crisis, technological solutions and disciplines, including Ecohydraulics, are increasingly engaged in urban projects and planning. Urban designers and landscape architects now work closely with engineers to maintain, repair, and even generate ecologies through tightly interwoven natural and technological systems. While achieved notable successes, the increasing engagement of engineering risks reducing the need for an integrated design which serves the interest of human and non- human communities to a need for technological solutions. The project of ecology, when treated as an apolitical domain, loses its capacity to integrate social-environmental benefits and respond to more complex urban questions. This paper examines this risk through the case of Geraardsbergen aan Boord, a masterplan for creating a safe, ecological, and socially inclusive public space along the Dender River. The case shows how ecohydraulic principles can be used as a “band-aid” providing technical fixes that obscure deeper ecological questions. It highlights the need for interdisciplinary design to play a stronger role in mediating diverse stakeholder agendas and coordinating a rational use of technology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64697/iahr.proc.ise2026.abs.284

Year: 2026