Emergent Urbanism: A Framework for Responsive Connectivity in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats

Abstract

The city remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges, demanding solutions to complex problems that arise from a network of interoperating systems at different scales. As urban centres densify across Canada, the dialogue of how to create vital, highly functioning mixed-use communities within urban environments is of utmost importance. This thesis assesses the methodologies designers have used to handle this issue, and proposes analytical and generative tools that contribute to a framework for emergent outcomes to assist balancing multi-scalar overlapping variables. This framework is tested on a site rich in conflicting contextual cues: the False Creek Flats in Vancouver, British Columbia. Following a hierarchy of urban, building, and pedestrian scales, information from analysis is implemented into design processes and critical response. Focusing on issues of connectivity, responsivity, and identity, the design proposal synthesizes the outcomes into a new district and building typology based on three dimensional environmental and social constraints.