The proposed planning concept for the southern sector of the Lachine Canal, between Atwater Avenue and Wellington Street, is that of a “porous green fringe,” asserting a new approach to development. The concept operates at two scales, that of the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood and the metropolitan scale, in order to reactivate social, economic, and environmental dynamics.
The canal’s new recreational and tourism-oriented vocation led to the proposal of a new identity for this former industrial infrastructure, replacing the once-associated image of the “Smoke Valley.” The “green fringe” serves as a foundation for establishing planning criteria that promote access to the water from Pointe-Saint-Charles and connectivity to the neighborhood from the canal, as well as fluid pedestrian and cycling movement. It also supports the creation of public and semi-public spaces, activated through commercial, cultural, residential, and civic uses. The reuse of this former industrial site becomes an opportunity to foster a sustainable development project.