VISION & MISSION
The Hub has three main goals at the core of its adaptive reuse:
To promote a sustainable environment
To provide affordability for migrant families, and
To support migrants’ health and wellness.
The building we propose for the adaptive reuse is the currently vacant CBE Headquarters located on Macleod Trail. Our mission is to transform this building into a mixed-use occupancy that provides climate migrant families a beautiful space to live, work, play, and learn under one setting. This short-term residence creates a sense of self-empowerment for these migrants as they become strong, contributing members of Calgary’s cultural fabric.
CRITICAL POSITION
This project takes a critical stance that aims to promote environmental equity with a focus on environmental sustainability, psychological health and wellness, and economic sustainability. In serving the marginalized group of environmental migrants, our project’s objective is to not only help these individuals, but also give them a sense of self-empowerment that will allow them to thrive within an unfamiliar environment.
In “Seeking Spatial Justice,” Soja posits that geographic equality is impossible to achieve due to geographically uneven development and its associated spatial inequalities (2010). This uneven development thus becomes a contributing factor to the social and spatial injustices through its connection with individual and social inequalities. As discussed by Grittner, Walsh, and Fiorilla, there is a potential link between spatial justice and climate justice when looking at urban environments through an intersectional perspective (2021).
Thus, when examining the issue of the environment and how it disproportionately affects certain demographics, our project takes a holistic approach and attempts to aid in the balancing of geographic inequities through a social program targeted towards families of environmental migrants that consists of a live-work-play-learn space in Calgary’s downtown.
TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC
ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRANTS
Environmental Migrants - also known as environmental refugees - are not defined under many international refugee or immigration policies. This demographic is commonly impacted by environmental degradation in their region which forces them to either partake in short-term or permanent migration, both of which pose significant social and economic hurdles (Podesta 2019).
Due to the lack of policy in place, Climate Migrants have significant difficulty finding a
place to call home.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Taking an environmental approach to design “is relevant because it does not limit itself to the protection of the natural world. Instead, it also ensures that some are not disproportionately affected by environmental degradation by giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns” (Kraja 2019). Further, as discussed by Grittner, Walsh, and Fiorilla, “individuals’ everyday relationships to climate justice, like spatial justice, are contingent upon their social location within socio-power structures” (2021).
Adaptive reuse of spaces can promote environmental design and revitalize the city.
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
In a Statistics Canada report from April 2021 the government reports a 1.1% (207,000) decrease in employment in April and the unemployment rate rose 0.6%. This puts the unemployment rate in Canada at 8.1% which is equivalent to roughly 3,070,000 people (Statistics Canada 2021). The cost of living makes it significantly harder for migrants and refugees to prosper in a brand new environment.
As an already disadvantaged community, it is vital that environmental migrants are provided with affordable housing and resources until they are integrated with society.
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Wellness has been defined as the active process through life choices or goals that are set to improve our physical and mental health. Biking, healthy nutrition, bathing, creativity and quality of sleep enhances the humans physical, mental and social conditions. The spaces we live and work in can have a significant effect on our physical and mental well-being.
Innovative design can shape how we feel and what we experience within a physical space.
