An urbanistic approach to aggregate quarrying: a case study in Brampton, Ontario

The reclamation of urban aggregate quarries has been recognised as a serious concern for built environment design and planning fields. However, much of the literature and research centred on this challenge tends to focus on the immediate techno-scientific reclamation practices employed at a site scale often towards the end of extraction. This essay argues for a reversal of this relationship between the designer/planner and the extraction-reclamation timeline. It does so by articulating an approach based upon ‘scenario planning’ that places reclamation planning and design at the beginning of the quarry timeline rather than at the end. Further, an example of this approach in Brampton, Ontario, is analysed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of urbanistic reclamation strategies. If we pivot towards designing reclaimed landscapes from the outset, we can use such sites as the beginning point for structuring cities, rather than leaving them as holes in the urban fabric.