I once ranted about why I thought even our brightest green thinkers in Montréal had their sites set too low.
This video renews my faith in the fact that there still are people out there open to forward-thinking. Thinking that pushes boundaries, and reinvents what pragmatic really means.
We can reimagine street space into true public spaces, and the above video gives a great explanation of why and how we would go about that.
This idea of creating a network that contributes to our health and social welfare ties in wonderfully with our bio-corridor master plan … an idea that is taking root right here in Mile-End (right here, to be specific).
There are a number of expert groups discussing what a green neighbourhood should include, in Montréal. I have no idea what sorts of far-reaching ideas these groups come up with (if you know, please pass along something I can read and post here!), but I get the feeling these groups never get as far as thinking about these larger, more integrated sorts of issues.
Unfortunately, if these experts groups are not discussing how to create a viable network of biodiversity that connects, dissects and otherwise traverses the entire city, then they are woefully missing the boat.
We need these zones of living nature that provide room for animals and life other than ourselves. But we also need these zones so that we can breathe and live in a healthful way.
Montréal has an incredible amount of wasted, dead street space that is not even being used. In the Mile-End alone, Casgrain and St-Dominique are wide enough to fit 4-6 lanes of traffic.
We should be thinking rationally about how to reimagine this wasted space. We should be figuring out how to turn these dead zones into a living, breathing network of biodiversity, clean air, and happy residents.
I hope our expert committees, at the Centre d’écologie urbain, or in the Plateau (the CAUDD), have the foresight to push their thinking further, faster. Why? Because if they aren’t, who in Montréal will?
…oh, in fact, I see the Centre d’écologie urbain has a workshop slated for February that might be a step in the right direction. Check it out.
(and watch the above video!!)
;)
via: Landscape + Urbanism
