Canalscape
Integral Urbanism
The Canalscape initiative practices Integral Urbanism by Nan Ellin, an approach to urban design and development that advocates:
- Finding what is integral to a place, its DNA, and building upon these assets, rather than focusing on deficits and problems. The canals are clearly part of DNA of this region and great assets.
- Integrating parts of the city that fragmented over the last century: live, work, create, and re-create. Canalscape introduces mixed-use urban infill along recreational and commuting corridors, offering a distinctive quality of life that is both urban and in nature.
- Engaging in “urban acupuncture” by removing blockages in “urban meridians,” just as acupuncture eliminates blockages in the energy meridians of a body, rather than imposing Master Plans. Urban acupuncture thereby liberates the life force (or “chi”) of a city, bringing urban and economic revitalization. Allowing regional energy to flow, distributed canalscape along the canal meridians of the Phoenix region brings health and well-being to the city and its inhabitants.