Climate Change & Urban Resilience: A Blue-Green Infrastructure Strategy for the Aniene River, Rome

Climate Change & Urban Resilience / A New Urban Park Along the Final Stretch of the Aniene River in Rome is a landscape-led urban design proposal that responds directly to the growing challenges of climate change, water risk, and ecological degradation in metropolitan contexts. Situated along the lower course of the Aniene River: one of Rome’s most fragile and underestimated landscapes: the project reimagines the river corridor as a resilient public infrastructure that balances environmental protection, flood mitigation, and everyday urban life.

Designed by Marco Nelli, the proposal positions blue-green infrastructure as the central architectural and landscape strategy, transforming extreme natural events such as flooding into catalysts for spatial experience, ecological regeneration, and civic engagement.

Climate Change, Water Risk, and the Urban Condition

Rome, like many historic European cities, faces increasing vulnerability to climate-driven phenomena including extreme precipitation, river flooding, soil erosion, and rising temperatures. The Aniene River basin is particularly exposed due to dense urbanization, impermeable surfaces, and fragmented ecological systems.

Through detailed pluviometric and hydrometric analysis, the project maps prolonged precipitation events, critical water levels, and flood-prone zones. These data-driven mappings inform a spatial strategy that does not resist water through rigid engineering alone, but instead accommodates, absorbs, and adapts to hydrological variability.

Rather than treating flooding as a failure, the project reframes it as a dynamic environmental process, integrating water into the spatial and social life of the city.

Blue-Green Infrastructure as Urban Architecture

At the core of the proposal lies a continuous blue-green infrastructure network: a multifunctional system combining water management, vegetation, mobility, and public space. This network operates simultaneously as:

• A hydraulic defense system
• An ecological corridor
• A recreational and social landscape
• A climate mitigation device

The river’s morphology is reworked through retention basins, floodable ditches, riverbed expansion zones, and riparian buffers, allowing controlled inundation during peak events while maintaining accessibility during dry periods.

This adaptive landscape transforms the Aniene River from a residual edge into a productive urban spine.

Masterplan Strategy and Spatial Organization

The masterplan extends across approximately 650 hectares, structured as a sequence of connected landscape episodes rather than a singular park. Each segment responds to local conditions while remaining part of a cohesive territorial system.

Key design actions include:

• Riverbed expansion and overflow basins to reduce downstream flood pressure
• Riparian system recovery to stabilize banks and improve water quality
• Resilient urban park construction integrating recreational and ecological functions
• Buffer zones between industrial, residential, and ecological areas
• Discovery paths and slow mobility routes reconnecting citizens to the river

This layered approach allows the park to function differently across seasons, water levels, and patterns of use.

Vegetation as Infrastructure

Vegetation plays a fundamental architectural role within the project. Rather than decorative planting, the proposal employs riparian vegetation as an operative system capable of delivering technical, ecological, economic, and aesthetic benefits.

Distinct vegetative zones are defined according to hydrological behavior:

• Flood-sensitive areas
• Naturalistic conservation zones
• Riverbank erosion control strips
• Urban parks and gardens
• Recreational meadows
• Productive landscapes and cultivated fields

Species selection supports biodiversity, stabilizes soils, filters pollutants, and regulates microclimates. The vegetation network strengthens ecological continuity while offering shaded, habitable spaces for citizens.

Floodable Landscapes and Erosion Control

A system of floodable basins and ditches is designed to manage varying water conditions:

• Dry zones during low-water periods
• Temporary wetlands during seasonal rains
• Stagnant water areas for ecological purification

These spaces slow runoff, reduce erosion, and improve overall hydraulic performance. Combined with nature-based engineering techniques, such as grass sowing, live plant materials, and soil modeling, the project achieves erosion control through natural processes rather than hard infrastructure.

Forestry Works and Climate Mitigation

Forestry interventions form another critical layer of resilience. Tree clusters and woodland systems are strategically introduced to:

• Reduce urban heat
• Mitigate noise pollution
• Capture carbon
• Improve air quality
• Support biodiversity habitats

Planting layouts vary in density and species composition, enhancing ecological functionality while shaping diverse spatial experiences. These forested zones operate as climate buffers, reinforcing the park’s role as a long-term environmental asset for the city.

Social, Ecological, and Urban Benefits

Beyond risk mitigation, the project redefines the Aniene River as a shared civic landscape. Programmatic elements such as river terraces, viewpoints, playgrounds, urban gardens, markets, pedestrian walkways, and event spaces encourage daily use and long-term stewardship.

By reconnecting neighborhoods to the river, the proposal restores a lost relationship between city and water: transforming fear of flooding into awareness, engagement, and collective resilience.

Climate Change & Urban Resilience along the Aniene River demonstrates how architecture and landscape design can operate at the scale of territory, infrastructure, and ecosystem simultaneously. Through blue-green infrastructure, adaptive water systems, and ecological urbanism, the project converts environmental risk into spatial opportunity.

Rather than opposing nature, the design works with it, offering a replicable model for resilient cities facing an uncertain climatic future.