Landscape MasterPlan

The Green and Blue Network Landscape Programme, commissioned to Roberto Duato by the Valencian Regional Government, is a comprehensive strategy to conserve, improve and enhance the areas of greatest environmental, heritage and landscape interest in Elche.

Its scope covers the historic palm grove, irrigation channels, traditional orchards, the Vinalopó River and the Elche countryside, creating a connected green infrastructure that guarantees ecological continuity and essential processes in the area.

Strategic opportunity

Conservation and enhancement of heritage: the historic palm grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the networks of irrigation channels and orchards, are integrated into a sustainable model of urban and territorial development.
Renaturalisation and ecological connectivity: restoration of the Vinalopó River and connection of urban and peri-urban ecosystems, strengthening biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Socio-economic and environmental impact: improvement of quality of life, resilience to climate change, water efficiency, reduction of heat islands and promotion of sustainable mobility.
International projection: positions Elche as a green and sustainable city, with potential for European Green Capital, reinforcing its image of leadership in sustainability policies.

Key actions

Restoration of irrigation channels and hydraulic heritage.
Improvement of ecological corridors and urban green spaces.
Regulation of land use to protect sensitive environments.
Integrated projects combining conservation, urban development and citizen participation.

The territory is the setting where nature, infrastructure and human life converge. In the Landscape MasterPlan sector, landscape strategy development that guide the balanced growth of the territory, integrating planning, ecology and design into a common vision.

Each plan is based on an in-depth reading of the landscape —its ecological structure, identity and potential— to build proposals that combine sustainability, functionality and beauty.

Master plans, green networks, ecological corridors and strategic projects on a territorial scale design that drive the transition towards more resilient and habitable territories. Strategic territorial planning from a landscape perspective.

The approach combines planning and design so that every spatial decision makes ecological, social and aesthetic sense. Because territory is not just planned: it is thought out, designed and lived.

THE TERRITORY CONCEIVED, DESIGNED AND SUSTAINED

Elche Green and Blue Network

Landscape Programme

The Green and Blue Network Programme not only protects natural and historical heritage, but also makes Elche a model of a sustainable city capable of attracting investment, leading environmental initiatives and ensuring balanced and profitable urban development for administrations, businesses and citizens.

→ See Full Programme

The Landscape Programme for the Tibi Reservoir and its surroundings, drafted by Roberto Duato as part of the participatory budgets of the Valencian Regional Government, promotes the recovery of hydraulic heritage, environmental education and sustainability as drivers of local development.

It is a comprehensive strategy to restore Europe's oldest reservoir and its surroundings, one of the most important Renaissance works in the world, whose modern reservoir is still in use today. Its deterioration and degradation threaten to cause its disappearance, but the historical, landscape and technical relevance of this civil engineering work represents a great tourist, economic and scientific opportunity, as well as a model for the recovery of the heritage that has given life to the territory.

The project proposes the renovation and transformation of the old Casa del Pantanero —the former home of the reservoir administrator— into the future Tibi Water Interpretation Centre (CIAT), a space that will connect heritage, landscape and knowledge.

Key points of the preliminary draft:

Generator of learning spaces and experiences.
Promotion of educational, training and informational opportunities.
Commitment to tourism innovation and water culture.
Recovery of historical and ethnographic heritage.
New cultural and museum attraction of reference for the entire Valencian Community.
Accessible, inclusive and close by.
Economic and social catalyst for the region.
Integration of sustainable energies and efficiency criteria.