Harnessing riverbank resources in the creative economy

Urbanization pressure often leads to a default trend: “vacant land” should be exploited to create economic value. However, this approach is not always correct, especially for spaces with special characteristics such as riverbanks.

Along major rivers, floodplains beyond embankments are often treated as potential land. From hydrological and systemic economic perspectives, they are not “empty land”; they function as an operating ecosystem. Riverbanks hold water, diffuse flood flows, absorb flood energy, and deposit sediments. In other words, they are part of urban infrastructure, only they are not built with concrete.

The challenge is that this type of infrastructure is almost invisible in traditional economic accounting. By contrast, tangible structures such as roads, tall buildings, or real estate projects create a clear and immediate sense of value.

Riverbanks as dynamic infrastructure and risk-management assets

Riverbanks are a dynamic system rather than a static structure. Their value comes not from being filled, but from the ability to remain “empty” at the right moment—especially during flood cycles.

International experience repeatedly shows that urbanizing natural floodplains can produce opposite outcomes. When riverbanks are narrowed, water absorption decreases, flood peaks rise, and risks spread across the system.

In the Yangtze River Basin, despite having the world’s leading flood-control system, China still maintains flood-dividing zones. In Wuhan, areas outside the dikes are mainly allocated to ecology, agriculture, and wetland parks rather than dense real estate development.

From an economic perspective, riverbanks can be treated as a form of risk-management asset. They may not generate direct profits, but they help avoid large costs such as infrastructure damage, economic disruption, and post-disaster reconstruction. Their core characteristic is flexibility: dry season is land, flood season is water. When this function is constrained by hard infrastructure, it is weakened.

Turning riverbanks into assets, not real estate

Planning thinking is changing globally. Rather than viewing riverbanks as land reserves, many countries redefine them as strategic assets.

In the Netherlands, the Room for the River program does not build new dikes but expands space for water, returning flood-prone areas to natural use to relieve pressure on the system. The approach is described as a shift from “fighting floods” to “living with floods.”

In Seoul, the Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration project removed a highway to restore the flow through the city. The outcome is presented as both environmental improvement and economic value through tourism and improved quality of life.

In New York City, the Hudson River Park project turned the riverfront into public space combining recreation, sport, and ecology, generating durable cash flow without dense development.

In Copenhagen, wetlands and water-filled squares are designed to function as both public spaces and flood-management systems. This is described as “dual-use infrastructure,” serving daily life and urban safety. Across these examples, the common point is that waterfront spaces are not land to be stockpiled; they are platforms for a new economic ecosystem.

Implications for Hanoi: experiential economy and flood-adaptive design

For Hanoi, riverbanks can be developed as an open, ecological, flood-adaptive system that creates long-term value. In this framing, the experiential economy becomes central: riverbanks can be operated as a service platform, where value lies in the experience.

One instructive idea is to turn the flood season into a product. In a creative-economy model, this could include sailing, kayaking, water sports, and seasonal landscape photography trips—an experience that is described as rare in large cities where rivers still have a natural pace clear enough to be experienced rather than merely observed.

Riverbanks can also be developed into wetland parks and public spaces that operate in two states. In dry seasons, they can host outdoor activities such as weekend markets and festivals. When waters rise, areas can be allowed to flood and become part of the landscape. The model is described as intentionally designed and widely applied in the United States, the Netherlands, and along the Yangtze.

Another layer of value is peri-urban agriculture. Alluvial land is presented as both a river’s heritage and a foundation for experiential tourism models where visitors participate in farming, enjoy locally produced goods, and experience a lifestyle distinct from urban life. The model is described as generating cash flow while sustaining livelihoods and local social structures.

Culturally, riverbanks are suited to temporary spaces. Instead of fixed structures, festivals, outdoor exhibitions, art installations, or music events can operate seasonally—appearing and disappearing with the seasons. The non-fixed nature of these spaces is presented as a draw that supports a continually evolving experience.

Riverbanks are also described as ideal for lifestyle activities, including running, mountain biking, and wellness or retreat experiences. With growing demand for health tourism and nature immersion, the riverbank’s advantage is framed as delivering an authentic experience within the urban core rather than competing with resorts.

More importantly, the activities described are presented as compatible with the riverbank’s core function if a simple rule is followed: do not fix the space. This means limiting large-scale construction, prioritizing temporary structures, and accepting flood cycles as part of the system.

Economic shift: from selling real estate to operating value

From an economic perspective, the approach represents a shift from “selling real estate” to “operating value.” The article argues that the greatest value of a space often lies not in erecting a symbolic building, but in understanding how to protect it and how to unleash its core value.

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