Ningbo Songlan Mountain Coastal Plank Road

The Songlan Mountain coastal boardwalk runs along the shoreline of Xiangshan County, Ningbo, within the established Songlan Mountain Scenic Area. The resort already contains several beaches that draw large crowds of swimmers and sunbathers every summer, but the beaches had previously been linked only by a municipal motor road, leaving pedestrians with a poor experience. The rocky headlands between them offered the best viewpoints over the sea, yet no path reached them. The design task was therefore to string the coastal landscape together into a continuous promenade that would enrich the walking experience and make every beach and scenic node feel connected. The principal challenges were environmental: the site is exposed to tidal scour, the soil is highly saline-alkaline so few plants thrive, and the rock outcrops are a valuable natural resource that must be disturbed as little as possible. The design strategy unfolded on four fronts. First, the boardwalk follows the gentlest existing terrain, lifted on pilotis wherever possible so that visitors can climb and look out while the rock below is left intact. Second, the 3.1-kilometre route is serviced by rest platforms, benches, pergolas, entrance plazas, car and bicycle parking, and small service buildings at the most picturesque beach nodes. Third, the planting is salt-tolerant and adapted to thin soils: species such as Casuarina equisetifolia anchor the sea-facing edges, while groundcover plants predominate and trees are used sparingly. Fourth, materials are chosen for corrosion resistance; the boardwalk itself is given striking red handrails and pale pervious concrete surfacing, the latter also solving rainwater ponding. Completed in October 2017 after design work in 2011, the boardwalk has turned the scenic area from a collection of isolated beaches into a continuous coastal experience, reviving previously underused shoreline and substantially raising the resort's appeal.