WC138 SeptOct 2024 - Flipbook - Page 27
STORMWATER
From Concrete
to Canopy
How daylighting streams is
reshaping urban landscapes in
Canadian cities.
BY MARK DOUGLAS WESSEL
NIVERSITY OF WATERLOO Associate Professor Luna Khirfan has seen the
light. But it didn’t happen overnight.
As Khirfan recalled, “I was working on nature-based solutions (for the
Region of Waterloo) long before anyone was using
the term nature-based solutions. And while I was
doing that, I took a trip back to Jordan and I
remember being shocked that the stream [where I
grew up] was lost, and there was all this pavement
and asphalt instead.”
Upon sharing that experience, one of her
students told her about a project in Seoul, Korea,
where “they did the opposite. They actually
brought the stream back to life.” Inspired by that
revelation, Khirfan applied for a grant that enabled
her to conduct comprehensive research and gain a
wealth of knowledge surrounding the practice of
daylighting, “the process of removing obstructions
(such as concrete or pavement) which are covering a river, creek, or drainage way and restoring
them to their previous condition.” And of equal
importance, to learn how this work impacts on the
livelihood of cities.
U
Mark Douglas Wessel
Getty Images
is an urban journalist and communications
consultant dedicated to writing about and
promoting initiatives that help make our
cities more liveable.
Daylighting urban streams such as Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon
Stream, brings many benefits to urban centres including flood
mitigation and heat reduction.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
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