The Atlas of One Delta
The Atlas of One Delta is the first publication in a series of five volumes, made by the 2013-2014 IwB cohort in collaboration with IwB faculty and staff, towards the Regional Ecologies project. This five-year research initiative looks at the networks and interconnected systems that define our regions and aims to design intelligent and balanced solutions that will foster prosperous, livable and resilient regions of the future.
Gateway Cities was the first year of this project. It looked at three cities that serve as gateways to their respective regions–Toronto, New York City, and Chicago. The Atlas of One Delta summarizes and analyzes the findings from Gateway Cities and includes comparative analysis, benchmarking, and data visualization of the 3 case study cities. The Atlas argues that a new regionalism has emerged, built on global connectivity and rapid urbanization, rather than strictly on physical or political boundaries. ‘One Delta’ is proposed as the ‘megaregion’ that encompasses the three cities. The Atlas suggests that the interconnectedness of this region presents opportunities to manage systems at a regional level.
Since its release, The Atlas of One Delta has received critical attention. In November 2015, The Atlas was awarded the RGD So(cial) Good Award, in the “Designer Driven Projects” category, which recognizes submissions of work where no client is involved and where designers themselves identify causes they would like to raise awareness for or where they identify solutions to societal challenges. The research from The Atlas has also been cited in Toronto Foundation’s 2015 Vital Signs Report.
Read more about One Delta below.