Seeing from Above: Observation of Contemporary Dike-Pond Landsca pe

Abstract

A dike-pond landscape is characterized by a symbiotic and interacted relationship between water and land and considered an integration of human settlements with an aquaculture-agriculture system. The Pearl River Delta has historically enjoyed a rich river network and been shaped by the mosaic-like constructed ponds with the meandering natural river systems, where the boundary of the constructed and the natural blurred and a resilient dike-pond landscape prevailed. However, the increasing demand for land resource during urbanization and industrial development has made such a landscape shrunk and surrounded by urban sprawl. The expansion of human settlements has not only changed the water-land symbiosis but also reshaped the pattern of the dike-pond landscape. This article, as an ongoing work, intends to observe and document the changes of such water-related landscapes from a different perspective, ``seeing from above,{''} with historical satellite photos, Google Map images, and contemporary aerial drone photography. It discovered three important transformations: the settlement sprawl and transformation, the shrinking dike surfaces and imbalanced ratio of dike to pond, and the disappearance of the organic pond pattern. These findings can evoke critical studies on the dialectical relation between urbanization and ecology, and offer possibilities of re-creating a sustainable landscape in the Pearl River Delta.