Green Infrastructure 2014 Working Group Q- Case Study 1
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GUADALUPE RIVER IN SILICON VALLEY
| Name | Guadalupe River / Ulistac Nature Preserve | |
| Country | California, USA | |
| City | Santa Clara/San José | |
| Authors | Andrés Pérez | |
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Rationale: Why is this case interesting?
The cities of San José and Santa Clara (in fact just one city) are lacking green areas and buffer zones, due to agressive urban sprawl. Rivers, highways and railways are the only continuous infrastructures across the city. The Guadalupe river and other similar creeks on the Santa Clara Valley (aka Silicon Valley) are in fact the only green connectors. They are also human/bike scale trails to experience the city. In the middle of the sprawl, Ulistac Green Area has been preserved due to historical reasons, and can be the seed to further developments and ecological buffer zones.
Author's perspective
I am an architect and landscape architect, new to the San Francisco Bay Area. The case is near my appartment, the reason why I chose to live there and nowhere else
Landscape and/or urban context of your case
- Biogeography, cultural features, overall character, history and dynamics
History
Time before the Spanish conquest of California, the Ohlone indians inhabited the site and founded a village called Ulistac. In their language, “tac” means “place,” while Uli was most likely the name of a chief. Thus, Ulistac meant Uli’s place.
The Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and his team arrived at the site in early 1776. They named the adjacent Guadalupe River (Río de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) after the patron saint of their expedition, the Virgin of Guadalupe. De Anza wrote in his journal on March 30,
“To this arroyo or river we gave the name of Guadalupe. It has abundant and good timber of cottonwood, ash, willow, and other kinds. In all directions there is a great abundance of firewood, and likewise agricultural lands for raising crops by natural humidity, or by irrigation if the river is permanent, as we conjecture, in which case it would make possible a large settlement.”
Afterwards, Rancho Ulistac was a 2,217-acre (8.97 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California, given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Marcelo and Cristóbal, Ohlone indians from the Santa Clara Mission.
- Illustrations: maps; sketches; short descriptive analyses
- Illustrations
Guadalupe river trail
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Analytical drawings
- Please use analytical drawing for visualising the conflicts/potentials of your site
- Analytical Drawings
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Green Infrastructure benefits for this site
Look again at the multiple benefits of green infrastructure - what could be achieved in your site and which are most relevant?
Potential for multifunctionality
Green infrastructure has typically multiple functions. What could be achieved for your site in this respect?
Projective drawings
- How would you like this case to change in the near future? (in 1-2 years)
- you may add a short explanation here
- And how could it look like in 10-15 years?
- you may add a short explanation here
- Projective Drawings
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Summary and conclusion
- 100 words approx.
Image Gallery
Please add further images/photos here
- Image Gallery
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References
- please add your references here
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