Todd Smith - MLA Thesis
- 1. Ecological Conurbation:Permaculture in Vaughan OntarioTodd Smith MLA April 2011
- 2. Using The Plant Guild Model From Permaculture, This Landscape Design Thesis Will Employ Agriculture As A Formative Element To Farm Rights-of-Way And The Public Realm In An Existing Recently Developed Suburban Neighbourhood. The Proposition Brings Together The Frames Of Urbanism, Forestry, And Agriculture, And Positions Them As A Synergistic And Resilient Reform Matrix For Existing And Future Conurban Open Space Development.
- 3. The Greater Toronto Area is predicted to urbanize by 3.7 million additional people and 1.8 million more jobs by 2031. At the current rates of 55% intensification and 45% greenfield development, all of the remaining Class 1 (highest arability) farmland in the whitebelt (area between existing urban and provincial greenbelt boundary) will likely be developed in the usual low-density and car-dependent morphology of suburbia. By that time, filling up a car with gas could cost $350 (at projected rates of $7/litre by 2025). A highway commute (even with a hybrid) to Toronto from Vaughan will cost $56; a trip to Wal-Mart to get milk will cost $7; driving to Montreal will cost $1400 round-trip. In the interim, we have edge neighbourhoods where the public realm experience is an afterthought; where any surface ecology has been removed and replaced with artificial ecosystems of vegetation indicative of decoration only; and where an inflexible housing typology means you must drive to get milk.There is a regenerative, smart, and eco-logical solution: This design thesis utilizes an organic approach to the management of public and private open spaces. Recovering the productive landscape memory, it creates a vibrant, self-sustaining soil biology that will substantially reduce the costs of maintaining both large and small properties.