UWSpace is currently experiencing technical difficulties resulting from its recent migration to a new version of its software. These technical issues are not affecting the submission and browse features of the site. UWaterloo community members may continue submitting items to UWSpace. We apologize for the inconvenience, and are actively working to resolve these technical issues.
 

St. Catharines Terroir

Thumbnail Image

Files

St_Catharines_Terroir_Michael_Ryan_Trussell.pdf (64.19 MB)

Date

2010-01-21T17:01:32Z

Authors

Trussell, Michael Ryan

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Waterloo

Abstract

This thesis is set in St. Catharines Ontario, a mid-sized city of 132,000 people, situated in the heart of the Niagara Region. Once a thriving manufacturing centre, St. Catharines has experienced two decades of traumatic economic contraction due to the collapse of the local automotive industry. Like other cities that have experienced the loss of their predominant industry, St. Catharines is struggling not only with unemployment, economic uncertainty and environmental degradation, but also with issues concerning the city’s very identity. As industrial activity played a critical role in shaping the form and character of the city, its steady disappearance has left both a functional and symbolic void in the community. The challenges associated with deindustrialization and decentralized urbanization have had a devastating impact on St. Catharines. The city’s historic core has not only lost its role as the symbolic centre of the community, unrelenting suburban expansion has also led to the destruction of some of Canada’s most productive agricultural terrain in the surrounding vicinity. This thesis argues that the current economic crisis offers a unique opportunity to radically reconsider St. Catharines’ urban environment. The thesis looks to the earth – the terroir – as the basis for the development of a robust vision to transform the city’s underappreciated historic core into a hub for the Niagara Region’s expanding wine industry. Essential to this vision is the extensive cultivation of urban vineyards and the planning of key pieces of urban armature around which future development will occur. The design aims to improve the overall quality-of-life offered in St. Catharines, and build a broader sense of community by enhancing the unique experience of the place and engaging citizens in the local wine enterprise.

Description

Keywords

St. Catharines, Niagara Region, mid-size city, downtown decline, urban renewal, urban redevelopment, urban revitalization, landscape urbanism, community identity, sense of place, terroir, Niagara wine industry

LC Keywords

Citation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10012/4962

Collections

Theses
Architecture