Urban Rivers Corridors in the Don Catchment, UK: From Ignored, Ignoble and Industrial to Green, Seen and Celebrated

Ed Shaw, Debbie Coldwell, Anthony Cox, Matt Duffy, Chris Firth, Beckie Fulton, Sue Goodship, Sally Hyslop, David Rowley, Rachel Walker and Peter Worrall
Additional contact information
Ed Shaw: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Debbie Coldwell: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Anthony Cox: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Matt Duffy: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Chris Firth: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Beckie Fulton: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Sue Goodship: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Sally Hyslop: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
David Rowley: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Rachel Walker: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK
Peter Worrall: Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Churchill Business Centre, Churchill Road, Doncaster DN2 4LP, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-27

Abstract: Research on urban rivers often seeks to find commonalities to advance knowledge of the effect of urbanisation on rivers, and rightly so. But it is important, also, to develop a complementary understanding of how urban rivers can be distinct, to facilitate a more nuanced view of concepts such as the ‘urban river syndrome’ and of the challenges facing those who wish to create more sustainable urban river corridors. To this end we use the Don Catchment as a case study to illustrate how historic patterns of urbanisation have been fundamental in shaping the catchment’s rivers. Following the Industrial Revolution, the catchment became an industrial centre, resulting in the ecological death of river ecosystems, and the disconnection of communities from stark urban river corridors. Widescale deindustrialisation in the 1970s and 1980s then resulted in a partial ecological recovery of the rivers, and ignited public interest. This history has imbued the catchment’s urban river corridors with a distinctive industrial character that can vary greatly between and within settlements. It has also left a legacy of particular issues, including a high degree of river habitat fragmentation and physical modification, and of negative perceptions of the rivers, which need improving to realise their potential as assets to local communities.

Keywords: urban river corridor; urban rivers; urban streams; urban ecology; industrialisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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