Abstract
By the beginning of twentieth century the State of Illinois held important manufacturing land. However, while Chicago grew, townships all around started to decay, with East St Louis as the most critical case. This is something needing urgent attention now more than ever due the State’s political and economic situation. Today, riversides are no longer crucial for cities’ industrial wellbeing but some of them still have much to offer. This paper considers a fifty-five mile strip south of East St Louis, which is known as Mississippi Cliffs due to the dramatic topographical difference between the plain and the upper lands. This area offers wonderful views from the top to the basin. Much could be done there since recent urban development trends on first-class cities all around the nation and in Europe are searching for open lands and pocket meadows for town parks, urban farming, recreational purposes, etc. on a pursuit for a blended fabric as a matter of mixed natural/human-made weaving to enrich their city life. Such surface of over 100K acres offers a great opportunity to develop centers for sporting, recreational, touristic, amusing, urban farming, and any kind of ecofriendly activities that could match efficiently with St Louis city’s crowded and busy life in a mutual benefit through attractive landscape development investments. There’s no doubt that Illinois urgently needs decentralized trends that bring steady economic opportunities everywhere else out of Chicago area, and this could be a good one.
Presenters
Rolando GonzalezAssociate Professor / Interim Director of School of Architecture, School of Architecture, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Decentralization, Meadows, Riversides, Development
Digital Media
This presenter hasn’t added media.
Request media and follow this presentation.
