As the world becomes increasingly globalised, ports become ideal places for investment and development. Because of its strategic coastal location, Prince Rupert has one of the fastest growing port terminals in North America and is the epicentre for the exploitation of natural resources in Northern British Columbia. This project seeks to envision how the city can develop through a responsive urbanism shaped by the industries that stimulate the local and global economy. Urban society is “a dynamic field of interrelated forces” and, as such, this proposal positions the architect as a mediator. It proposes approaches not as fixed solutions, but as possibilities for how a place can evolve in response to shifting geopolitical and socioeconomic values.

The project was developed within the context of the University of British Columbia.