Moving Cities: Reclaiming the Fragmented Region of the Oil Sands

Abstract

As the Oil Sands in Northern Alberta continue to develop and new companies take up leases, they continue to fragment the region’s communities and landscape. Rather than continuing the trend of subdividing the lands and the population, through isolated workers camps, this thesis proposes a moving city that can follow industry, remediate its path and reconnect the community through its processes. Large scale canopies will cover past mining and tailings sites to create micro-climates and harvest energy through solar updraft. The elevated temperatures under the canopies will provide improved climatic conditions for human inhabitation and a bioremediation industry. Beneath the canopy, the inhabitants will be free to ‘plug-in’ to the provided infrastructure with their own version of ‘home’. A stronger attachment to the community, between people, and new clean industries that the population can find pride in, will vastly improve the reputation of the region.