Planning Design 2
SOUTH BASIN LAKE MANITOBA
WINTER 2008
Instructors: Dr. Ian Wight, James Platt MCIP, Robert Nicol, Don Malinowski
In Winter of 2008, first-year Masters students in the City Planning program at the University of Manitoba were given a unique challenge. The regional studio course was focused on developing a secondary plan document for the ”South Basin Lake Manitoba Planning Area’, which is part of the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. Students worked in collaboration with the RM Council, the Portage la Prairie District Planning Board, and the District Office of Manitoba Intergovernmental Affairs.
Located just north of Portage la Prairie, the study area represents one of the planning district’s most unique natural formations. Contained within its borders are the Delta and Lake Francis marshes – combined, these marshes contain 54,000 acres of land and water, and are considered among the finest fresh-water marshes in the world. The study area also contains some of Manitoba’s richest agricultural lands. While the Portage la Prairie Planning District had recently drafted a development plan for the entire rural municipality of Portage la Prairie, it was felt that the study area required a document that would outline some more specific development guidelines, due to its many unique characteristics. Students were given the task of identifying and evaluating the planning challenges facing the South Basin Lake Manitoba area at present, and developing policy guidelines that would guide growth in the area in future years. The studio used several green frameworks to guide the secondary plan development.
As a complement to the studio course, a GIS component was built-in to the project. Students completed three GIS ”modules’, in which they were able to learn GIS techniques while working with data from the South Basin Lake Manitoba planning area. The GIS component was led by U of M City Planning students Erin Ferguson and James Moore.
WINTER 2008
Instructors: Dr. Ian Wight, James Platt MCIP, Robert Nicol, Don Malinowski
In Winter of 2008, first-year Masters students in the City Planning program at the University of Manitoba were given a unique challenge. The regional studio course was focused on developing a secondary plan document for the ”South Basin Lake Manitoba Planning Area’, which is part of the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. Students worked in collaboration with the RM Council, the Portage la Prairie District Planning Board, and the District Office of Manitoba Intergovernmental Affairs.
Located just north of Portage la Prairie, the study area represents one of the planning district’s most unique natural formations. Contained within its borders are the Delta and Lake Francis marshes – combined, these marshes contain 54,000 acres of land and water, and are considered among the finest fresh-water marshes in the world. The study area also contains some of Manitoba’s richest agricultural lands. While the Portage la Prairie Planning District had recently drafted a development plan for the entire rural municipality of Portage la Prairie, it was felt that the study area required a document that would outline some more specific development guidelines, due to its many unique characteristics. Students were given the task of identifying and evaluating the planning challenges facing the South Basin Lake Manitoba area at present, and developing policy guidelines that would guide growth in the area in future years. The studio used several green frameworks to guide the secondary plan development.
As a complement to the studio course, a GIS component was built-in to the project. Students completed three GIS ”modules’, in which they were able to learn GIS techniques while working with data from the South Basin Lake Manitoba planning area. The GIS component was led by U of M City Planning students Erin Ferguson and James Moore.