IN-PERSON Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

The revitalisation and reconstruction of underutilized sectors of the city is at the core of urban design practice. But how can suburban sites be ReUrbanised, thickened to increase the density of people, activities and things, while maintaining an authentic sense of place? In order to answer this question, I propose to look at the transformation of Laval, Quebec’s second largest city which has evolved from being a place of exchange for First Nations, and since 1636, a working landscape of quarries and farms to a holiday destination for the masses before becoming the principal suburban dormitory city crisscrossed by highways serving Montreal. With the completion of the metro linking Laval to the rest of the region over the last two decades, the areas around new metro stations are being expeditiously built up with little regard to the preexisting landscape. To better understand the mechanisms at play, I will present the interventions around Cartier station while also looking at the rapidly fading vernacular landscapes in the shadows of these large projects. I maintain that if carefully studied, understood and nurtured, the original landscape, a “concrete, three-dimensional shared reality…with its own distinct character…” to paraphrase J.B. Jackson, can become a common ground through which new and renovated structures can be imbued with meaning. In order to support this proposition, I will explore concrete strategies that open a third way between wholesale replacement and nostalgic conservation, offering an equilibrium between past and future that maximize opportunities for better integration into this unique place.