Abstract:Against the backdrop of "building a world-class waterfront area" strategy in Shanghai, with the requirements of "connecting both banks and enhancing the landscape" for the Suzhou River Environmental Comprehensive Improvement Phase IV Project as the core orientation, aiming at the problems existing in the cross-river channel system of the central urban area section of the Suzhou River, by sorting out the current situation, referring the cases and planning system, and building a four-dimensional renovation framework of "cultural guidance, functional integration, technical implementation and mechanism guarantee", the overall strategy of "segmented theme shaping, negative space activation and night scene system creation" is studied and proposed to upgrade the cross-river channel from "transportation infrastructure" to "a composite public carrier that carries Shanghai culture, serves livelihood needs of the people and connects waterfront spaces". The results can provide the theoretical reference and practical paradigm for the renewal of high-density urban waterfront area and the landscape planning of cross-river channel.