Redefining Northlands: How natural systems can inform low impact development in Edmonton, Alberta

Abstract

The Northlands Grounds is a 64 hectare site in north-central Edmonton, Alberta. The site is composed of infrastructure supporting three main attractions: The Northlands Racetrack, the Edmonton Expo Centre, and the Northlands Coliseum. The site drew roughly 3 million annual visitors until the primary on-site attractions were transitioned to Edmonton’s downtown entertainment district in 2016. The resulting reduction in visitor traffic to the site has economic projections anticipating Northlands’ operating costs outweighing their annual generated income (Northlands, 2016). This has pushed city administration and the Northlands organization to reinvent its presence in the Edmonton, thereby avoiding the potential impacts of a vacant or derelict site in the future. This project will explore how landscape systems can be designed with low impact development (LID) methods and act as a framework for future development on the Northlands Grounds, to better serve its surrounding communities, and city of Edmonton as a whole.