Mamaia Seaside

This project focuses in the re-naturalization of the Mamaia seaside. It aims to mitigate the effects of its rapid and uncontrolled urban development. It also aims to recover the climatic and ecological qualities of its original state prior to the 20th Century. At the same time, it also proposes a modern and forward-looking piece of resilient coastal infrastructure. The new coastal front offers a healthy and rich leisure ecosystem to attract domestic and international visitors and to relate them to the surrounding natural habitat.

The project recognizes three main biodiversity conservation areas that are part of the Natura 2000 ecological network. These areas are: the Black Sea (ROSPA0076), Siutghiol Lake (ROSPA0057) and the Marine Dunes of Agigea (ROSCI0073). These conservation areas lay unconnected nowadays, since they were broken apart by the urban development of the Mamaia strip. However, it is possible to recognize that these three protected areas share a series of flora and fauna species. These common species depend on interrelated ecosystems and navigate among all of them.

These dissociated areas, all of which hold high ecological value, have the possibility of being connected once more through the re-naturalized Mamaia coastal border.

The project proposes the re-naturalization of the coastal edge of Mamaia and the recovery of the landscape and dune systems described as the native landscape of the site. The aim of the re-naturalization process is to recover the ecological and environmental conditions that will make the Mamaia seaside more than a rich touristic destination. A new dune park will hold a strong ecological function, while also offering spaces for recreation, redefining the nature of the edge.

To that end, a natural infrastructure capable of generating new ecological relationships that connect the three protected zones through green areas and ecological corridors is proposed. It is structured along a longitudinal North-South axis that runs over the full length of Mamaia on the one hand. On the other hand, a series of transversal East-West connectors re-establish the relationship between the lake and the seafront ecosystems.