Central Delaware Riverfront District - 1405 Words

Central Delaware Riverfront District is a place with rich history. This article is mainly about comparing the master plans of this area issued in the late 20th Century and 2011. As part of the background, I’d like to mention that the development of Central Riverfront District could be traced back to 1967. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission made a plan to build the I-95 Express Highway in that year. It was a postwar interstate highway happening with the automobile growth, serving the purpose of development out. But it also isolated the riverfront (which was mainly the industrial area at that time) with the center city, putting the future development of the waterfront district into a negative position. Fig 1 1967 Proposed Land Use of Center City Redevelopment Area In the late 20th Century about 1980, there was a master plan for Central Delaware Riverfront issued by Philadelphia City Planning Commission. It stated consideration for the whole planning from the aspects of transportation, land use, development phasing, recreation open space and so on, by previously studying the existing condition and analyzing development potential of the site. The background of the plan was that Philadelphia entered the post-industrial era because of industry decline. Some of the piers were no longer in use and many factories were moved to other places. The riverfront district needed to be redeveloped. After 30 years, the Planning Commission approved another master plan for Central