2022 Cat A - Margin fill
The main open areas inside the Tel-Aviv metropolitan district consist mainly of inaccessible agricultural land, separating massive urban infrastructures. The existence of an ecological corridor, facilitating wildlife mobility, is designated as a continuous line through these open areas in the 35 NOP. While the shape of the corridor is not well defined, the terrain itself is discontinuous and is being challenged by urban development and intensive agricultural cultivation.
My project tackles this conflict, accommodating the need for continuous wild open spaces in the crop fields between Shilo stream and the Yarkon National Park. My aim is to morph the agricultural, the urban and the infrastructures in between into an ecological and human continuum by utilizing rewilding techniques alongside urban development in city outskirts.
To achieve these goals, we suggest three separate stages over 20 years:
The first immediate stage is widening the existing field margins and brownfields with local vegetation.
The second stage adds new drainage systems for extreme flood events along planned future roads, thereby creating new vernal pools.
The last stage assumes that future agriculture will rely on reclaimed water. half of the existing tillage will be replaced by orchards, increasing the agricultural profit while reducing cultivation needs. The remaining half will undergo rewilding, increasing the biodiversity and therefore improving various ecological services.
Over time, cultivated and abandoned lands will be accessible to the public by a well established path system connecting the densifying cities, countryside and parks, while serving as a reclaimed natural recreational area.
