Introduction

Sayyad Recreational Park Master Plan is a proposal for developing the underutilized yet widely recognized and go-to natural and recreational destination of Kapisa province. The recreational master plan proposal focuses on three major concepts: well utilized, national recreational center and sport stadiums near Sayyad River; centralized and well integrated industrial zone that can be fed through the agricultural lands within the boundary of the master plan and the surrounding lands; finally a safe and healthy public housing zone with required public spaces and commercial zones that is well integrated with the surrounding villages and the proposed industrial zones.

Along with these visionary concepts, the river possesses a major threat of flooding which is taken into consideration in many levels and a multitude of strategies are applied to address the issue. First, the whole site is zoned so that activities that are more vulnerable are placed further away while does with less permanent occupancy are located closer to the river. Second, activities with more open spaces are placed at river side, for flood water to accumulate and drain. Finally, a mixed method of retaining wall and riparian buffer zones are used to avoid over flooding in sensitive areas of the master plan.

 The Context

Located in the historic district of Mahmood Raqi of Kapisa Province, Sayyad riverfront is a well-known resort in the region. The site has been recognized for its natural beauty and recreational identity for centuries. The site has been the resort of religious and royal families even before Afghanistan’s convergence to Islam. Sayyad riverfront is not the only resort at the province but an anchor in the network of natural and historical resorts of Kapisa province. Taking this into consideration, development of Sayyad riverfront will not only effect the sites value but the entire province as a whole.

Along with the recreational potentials, the province also has a great value in the regions food chain, since the province is one of the richest agricultural regions of the capital zone. Thus utilizing and industrializing the food chain production and exportation well yield in the whole zones economic growth.

 The Riverfront Resort

The riverfront resort consists of seven major anchors, which are located considering users experience and the anchors accessibility. There for, the activities are placed so that every step in users experience (both quick visitors or long staying users) are more interesting and more different than the one before and activities that relate to almost all types of users are placed near the entrance yet those specific to a type of user is further the line of entertainment.

Thus, taking this into consideration the experience of the resorts starts with the commercial zone, that also has sitting canopies along the river for quick visitors. Second on the path, users will find the centralized amusement park, which consists of many different types of activities and entertainments. From here towards north is the academic institutional center, which is the place where academic conferences and institutional activities might be held. Forward in the path of entertainment is the sports village, which consists of a football stadium with the capacity to hold province level sports, a secondary sport hall and smaller indoor sport hall.

Following the path users will reach a V.I.P hotel located near one of the most beautiful views of the nearby hill allocated for government and non-government guests. Finally the path ends with suites, located at the most relaxed and private part of the site for better enjoyment of the natural beauties of the site. All of these activities are surrounded with the beautiful and natural riparian buffer zone which consists of the local trees for the users to experience the wilderness of the site and for the site to be safer in the flooding seasons.

 The Industrial Zone

Sayyad’s industrial zone is vision to trigger the province’s economic growth and act as an anchor in the industrial network of Mahmood Raqi district as a whole. The industrial consists of three major parts: the production area, the process zone and the storages. The production area consists of agriculture lands, agriculture farms and a fish farm. These three zones along with the surrounding agriculture lands shall act as the inputs for the process zone.

The process zone consists of meat processing units, diary and egg products, grains and vegetables processing units and finally fruits processing units, all located respectively from the industrial zone’s entrance. Storages for all of these parts are located on the northern side of the zone, for better accessibility and in order to act as a buffer zone between the industrial zone and the housing units.

Finally all of the three major parts are integrated with each other and connected to the districts major road through a direct street for better accessibility and transport.

 Housing and Public Facilities

The southern side of the slopes located to the north of the site is the perfect place for zoning residential houses for the workers of the industrial sites. The slopes are the furthest from the river, hence the safest place from the flooding threats. Also these slopes are well connected to the surrounding northern villages, which helps more in their integration with the context. The public facilities considered in this project takes the form a centralized agriculture training center and a botanical garden next to the industrial sites, a stripe of commercial buildings that follow the local commercial building typology located along the major road of the province and finally a mosque near Sayyad bridge. All of these facilities are designed to enhance the social status of the site and its surroundings.