Unmaking Canvey Island

CARE + PROTECT

abandoned properties go through landscape strategies connect landscape strategies

ADAPT move people make mounds

Embrace

let water in life + landscape balanced

Masterplan Scale

The land and water strategy for Canvey Island is to open back up the waterways and create a series of smaller islands, similar to what it looked like before the Dutch connected all the land. There is evidence of where the water would naturally go based on drainage pipes, water outlets that lead to the sea, and a central lake area.

The social strategy for the island is to take care of the elderly population while also preparing the next generation of Canvey Islanders for the future. Since so many older residents want to live out their days in their homes and there is little access to medical care, this proposal looks at bringing in-home nurses to care for people. This creates a younger generation of people that would be able to live on the island and create new communities as the current one shifts.

Over the next 30 years, the island would stay mostly the same. The ageing residents would be given several options for their homes and get to decide the fate of their property while also curating new public amenities for future generations. The choices each resident gets depend on their property type and are outlined in the following pages.