Impact of urbanization on structure and function of river system - Case study of Shanghai, China

Urbanization can affect the physical process of river growth, modify stream structure and further influence the functions of river system. Shanghai is one of the largest cities in the world, which is located in Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta in China. Since the 1970s, the whole river system in Shanghai has been planned and managed by the Shanghai Water Authority. The primary management objectives in the last 30 years have been to enhance irrigation and flood-control. By using Horton-Strahler classification and Horton laws as a reference, a novel method of stream classification, in conjunction with the traditional and specially designed indicators, was applied to understanding the structure and functions of the river system in Shanghai. Correlation analysis was used to identify the interrelations among indicators. It was found that the impact of urbanization on the river system was significant although natural laws and physical characteristics marked a super-developed river system. There was an obvious correlation between the degree of urbanization and the abnormal values of some indicators. Urbanization impacts on river system such as branches engineered out, riverbank concreting and low diversity of river style were widely observed. Each indicator had distinct sensibility to urbanization so they could be used to describe different characteristics of urban river system. The function indicators were significantly related to structure indicators. Stream structure, described by fractal dimension and complexity of river system, was as important as water area ratio for maintaining river's multi-function.