Andrey Chernykh and Léonard Flot
Part of the east shoreline promenade as it passes by a soil drying facility.
dreaming of a new delta park What could be the future of such an enterprise? Urban soils have been profoundly altered by development, often diminishing their ecological function. 6 By turning dredged sediments into productive soil, we gain an opportunity to better understand soil as a living system essential to the health of our cities. Such research supports more resilient agricultural practices, reduced dependence on fertilisers, pesticides and water while contributing to a broader economic shift from non-renewable resources toward sustainable, biologically-based systems. The cultivation of new soil from dredged sediment invites new methods of production and new forms of coexistence with the environment. Landscape architecture has historically relied on soil science without fully engaging its complexities. 7 A park that integrates sediment processing and soil production offers a unique educational opportunity by making these processes visible to the public. Such a landscape could function as a living laboratory, with potential connection to educational institutions that focus on research in biology, forestry, landscape architecture and environmental studies. Visitors and students alike could learn about soil composition, agricultural productivity and ecological restoration. As a productive landscape, the park, generating valuable data on soil health, plant growth and remediation processes, establishes a feedback loop of monitored data shared through social media, to foster community outreach and public awareness. Because soil is both dynamic and transportable, the park must be understood not as an isolated site but as part of a larger ecological system. Humber Bay Park’s location within Toronto’s transportation network positions it as a potential hub for collecting, processing and redistributing soil throughout the Lake Ontario region. A public-private partnership could manage
the park as a new form of urban industrial landscape, where environmental stewardship and resource production support one another. Commercial sales of remediated soil, together with complementary operations such as an on-site tree nursery, could, long-term, help fund the park’s maintenance, expansion, and ecological rehabilitation. The viability of such a model ultimately depends on the quality of the dredged material itself. Highly contaminated or unsuitable sediments may prove too costly to remediate, which explains why many disposal facilities remain little more than storage sites. Yet a productive landscape of the twenty-first century need not be limited to meadows, pathways, and scenic views. By combining recreation with soil collection, research, and distribution, the urban park can evolve beyond post-industrial preservation into a functioning ecological infrastructure. The time is now to imagine deltaic urban parks that merge industry, ecology and leisure at a waterfront near you. *
As this project started as a 12,000 word thesis we would like to thank Kevin Murray, an architect and academic writer, who helped with the editing of the essay at various stages. ANDREY CHERNYKH is a landscape archiect, artist and urbanist based in Toronto. Through painting, writing and collaborative design projects, he strives to strengthen connections between people, landscapes and the ecological systems that support us all. LÉONARD FLOT is a landscape designer based in Montréal, interested in the intersection of landscape architecture and the engineering technology of ecology-based infrastructural reconceptualisation.
42 on site review 49 :: shorelines
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