What is an urban riverscape? Typological naming of urban riverscapes to support planning and management

In the age of the Anthropocene, urban riverscapes are exceedingly important novel ecosystems. A common approach to understanding and describing differing riverscapes is through a classification (typology) of geomorphic characteristics. The exercise of classifying a river creates a picture of riverscape character and behavior in addition to trajectory and restoration potential. Despite the prevalence of these schemes, two major limitations prevent their direct application to urban riverscapes: (1) many of the existing classifications are not easily applied by resource managers because they do not connect the classification scheme to management actions; and (2) few provide an integrated characterization of the geomorphic and anthropogenic elements or urban stream characteristics. As a result of these limitations, we have developed a classification approach that promotes integrated understanding of urban riverscape character and behavior, and the associated management implications. This urban riverscape-focused typology is different from previous studies in that we explicitly include urban riverscape characteristics in the reach typing decision trees. We developed seven different urban riverscape characteristic categories, which are a modified version of the urban channel classification scheme. The seven categories, ranging from near natural (1) to those riverscapes which have been completely enclosed (7), were specified according to the degree of modification and change by direct effects of human activity. A standardized, remote sensing-based classification method such as the urban riverscape typology provides an efficient, cost-effective, and structured approach to holistically collect geomorphic data to support successful urban riverscape management. This research paper will describe the data and methods used to develop the urban riverscape characteristics included in a reach typing process that are not part of standard classification schemes. The urban riverscape characteristics are also useful for describing recovery potential and deciding management strategies, which will also be described in the paper.