Towards a New Typology for Classifying Urban Riverfront Character Sections: Insights from European Cities

Riverfronts in cities usually form different sections, expressing the city changing tonality or diversity of functions alongside the water edge. The diverse surrounding of rivers in urban areas requires a specific management approach, reflecting the needs of the individual riverfront sections. However, the management of urban riverfronts currently lacks a typology that would form the basis for this approach. This paper aims to contribute to the creation of a new typology of urban riverfronts, which can assist in sustainable development of river spaces while maintaining the riverfront’s diversity. The research included four stages, namely identifying existing riverfront typologies; exploring them in the environment of four European riverfronts – Hamburg, Bremen, Bratislava and Vienna; identifying gaps in selected typologies; and formulating recommendations for development of a new urban riverfronts typology. The gaps in current typologies were concerned mainly with lack of specificity, lack of consideration for variations and qualitative parameters. The new typology of riverfront character sections can enable using tailored solutions and preserve the values related to a given place. It is an invaluable tool for precision of spatial management of riverfronts and planning in general.