Reconciliation between nature and the city in Belém
The regeneration of the Doca Linear Park, located in Belém do Pará, emerges as a strategic urban intervention that integrates infrastructure, landscape, and memory to reconnect the city to its waters through the qualification of public spaces. Implemented over the former Igarapé das Almas, now a canal of approximately 1.2 km in length on the central median of Visconde de Sousa Franco Avenue, the project restores the water identity that historically structured the Reduto basin and that, throughout the urbanization process, was gradually buried by fragmented and function-oriented logics.
Belém, built upon a network of rivers and igarapés, has seen its natural landscape interrupted by successive interventions that erased the presence of water from everyday urban life, following a poorly responsible logic repeatedly applied in Brazilian metropolises. Previously marked by the absence of public spaces, by the predominance of automobiles, and by low environmental quality, the canal’s surroundings lacked shade, permeability, and opportunities for social interaction.
With the arrival of COP30, the Doca Linear Park assumes the role of one of the event’s main urban legacies. The project proposes the reconciliation between city and nature, transforming the water corridor into a continuous, accessible, and multifunctional park. By expanding green infrastructure, requalifying the landscape, and valuing the memory of water, the park becomes a place for encounter, leisure, sports, and contemplation, restoring to residents the experience of living close to their waterways.
Inspired by Ailton Krenak’s reflection, “May these rivers, which are much older than us, grant us wisdom and guide us toward improving our existence…,” the project adopts water as its guiding element. The design reintegrates the canal into everyday life in Belém, bringing people closer to the watercourse and expanding its ecological, social, and symbolic roles.
Deviations Between the Original Design and the Final Implementation of the Project
The original design aimed to revitalize the river canal by introducing new public spaces and innovative nature-based solutions to address urban climate challenges and enhance the ecosystem. However, due to a tight construction schedule and strict deadlines, several adjustments were made during the construction phase. While the completed project does not yet address the canal’s lateral banks, future phases may still develop these areas, depending on institutional decisions and further public investment. We remain hopeful that this vision will eventually be realized for the canal.
Ecological and urban regeneration strategy
The transformation of the former igarapé into a linear park is supported by a robust set of environmental, hydraulic, and landscape solutions:
- Nature-based solutions to improve water quality, reduce diffuse pollution, and enhance microdrainage;
- Resilient infrastructure, with flood mitigation, hydraulic adjustments, and elevated structures to ensure safe visitation;
- Increased soil permeability, contributing to thermal comfort, sustainable drainage, and improved urban microclimate;
- Valuation of public space, creating an active, safe, and multifunctional environment for residents and visitors.
A park integrated with its territory and its people
The Doca Linear Park organizes a set of uses that reinforces urban vitality and the everyday relationship with water. Along its length, viewpoints, elevated walkways, kiosks, playgrounds, a dog park, shaded areas, seating gardens, a cycle path, and sports spaces create a continuous sequence of environments for social interaction, leisure, and contemplation. The design prioritizes comfort, safety, and accessibility, establishing the park as a democratic and welcoming space for residents and visitors.
The intervention respects the existing vegetation and introduces native species to strengthen local biodiversity, as well as Nature-based Solutions for improving water quality, given that the canal still receives waste and runoff from the immediate surroundings. The process involved residents, schools, and community organizations, ensuring that the program and spaces responded to the real demands of the territory.
Integrated into a broader set of sanitation, drainage, and urban revitalization works in the Doca area, the park benefits around 500,000 people and quickly became a new gathering point and identity landmark for Belém. By transforming a formerly degraded canal into ecological and social infrastructure, the project leaves as its legacy the reconnection of the city to its waters and a model of urban regeneration sensitive to the Amazonian territory.
Data
Landscape architecture: Natureza Urbana
Project: Doca Linear Park
Location: Belém–PA, Brazil
Project date (year): 2023–2024
Completion date (year): 2025
Site area: 40,080.24 m²
Architecture authors: Manoela Machado, Pedro Lira. Team: Camila Reis, Julia Ximenes, Giulia Corsi, Claudia Jaegerman, Nicollas Rangel, Juliana Santos, Luan Neske, and Yan Azevedo.
Vegetation and Drainage Design: Geasa Engenharia
Complementary Projects: Vallenge Engenharia
Structural Design: Marcello Sanguinetti Estruturas
Photography: Leonardo Finotti / Manuel Sá
