Unintended Consequences:
An Exploration of the Passive Effects of Sprawl at the Intersections of Urban Infrastructure and the Don Valley
An Exploration of the Passive Effects of Sprawl at the Intersections of Urban Infrastructure and the Don Valley
Described as the “most messed-with river” in Canada by Jennifer Bonnell (MacGregor 2018, 57), the Don River has been subjected to many direct alterations and interventions from its straightening in the 1880s to the infill of its marshes between 1912 and 1925 (The Don River Valley Park 2017). While active processes such as these have certainly made their mark, this narrative will instead focus on the implications of urban infrastructure, that are unrelated and independent of the Don River, on its topographic and hydrological landscape. Through this narrative we will explore how an ever-urbanizing Toronto and the infrastructures necessary to facilitate this urbanization intersect, interact with, and passively impact the valley’s morphology, ecological health, and relationship to the public.
The following 10 images will explore how the intersections of geomorphological and urban scale between the Don Valley and infrastructures such as sewage systems, bridges, and railways, manifest and are experienced at the human scale. This visual-textual narrative will touch on 3 main elements, Toronto’s sewers, the Prince Edward Viaduct, and the disused Railway track that cuts through the lower Don, all of which are infrastructures that:
1. Are not explicitly designed or intended to impact the topography or hydrology of the Don Valley, and
2. Are not designed or intended to actively harness the Don Valley as a means of power or as a tool, (such as the mills that dot the length of the valley).
The following 10 images will explore how the intersections of geomorphological and urban scale between the Don Valley and infrastructures such as sewage systems, bridges, and railways, manifest and are experienced at the human scale. This visual-textual narrative will touch on 3 main elements, Toronto’s sewers, the Prince Edward Viaduct, and the disused Railway track that cuts through the lower Don, all of which are infrastructures that:
1. Are not explicitly designed or intended to impact the topography or hydrology of the Don Valley, and
2. Are not designed or intended to actively harness the Don Valley as a means of power or as a tool, (such as the mills that dot the length of the valley).
Through this framing, it will hopefully become clear how even if the consequences of urbanization on the Don Valley are passive, the required social response will need to be deliberate and active, and thus it calls into question how these deliberate and active responses could be made proactively as part of the urban design process.
