Landscape architecture

ABSTRACT

The Art of the Sustainable Street

Miriam L. R. Mutton

The street influences our sense of community every day. It is argued that getting the street right communicates a collective vision for action leading to sustainable community.

This investigation continues conversations for community repair and resilient change, especially for small town Ontario. The researcher is informed by ways of seeing inspired by Walter Benjamin's literary montage, The Arcades Project. By method of collecting and connecting information from literature sources spanning several decades and recent interviews, this thesis demonstrates in narrative form the value to community of everyday street details of human scale. Recurrent themes are adopted as technique in validation. Findings are presented from various perspectives including those of the design professional and the politician.

The sustainable street enables communication. Research outcomes indicate knowledge transferred through the art of storytelling supports place-making and connection to community. Fragments of information connect into themes defining safe streets which foster trust among strangers, and facilitate citizenship and good governance.

Key words: sustainable community, citizenship, safe streets, Benjamin, governance

Author Keywords: Benjamin, citizenship, governance, safe streets, sustainable community