top of page
St. Lawrence Park
St. Lawrence Park is the north-western wing of Port Credit, along Lake Ontario. It is frequently used by the public passing through the main street, and tourists who travel to the park from the other municipalities of the Greater Toronto Area. Overall, the park contains design elements that create social spaces for people to come together or to spend time on their own. However, there are spaces within the park that are not effectively designed and are underused. St. Lawrence Park is designed as a destination for people to come together while enjoying the view. With this in mind, the design provides for plenty of spaces that people use in different ways.
People are able to access the park by using two different paths that run across it, creating an access and linkage point from the main streets. In Jan Gehl’s research, he states that people are attracted to spaces in which people are able to hear and see others interact. [1] A specific example is that a musician playing his guitar on one of the paths attracts people into the park to watch him perform. Many of these people then take the opportunity to continue down the paths to further explore. The two paths also offer the residents of the nearby condominiums and townhouses an opportunity to execute their necessary activities. Necessary activities take place throughout the year in all types of conditions as they become part of their everyday routine. [2] These people use the space to walk their pets, ride their bicycles across the park, and exercise along these paths. The width of the walkways fluctuate to create less intimate open areas, and more intimate narrow areas. In the open areas, people are able to interact and engage in social activities while maintaining good distance in the narrow area. As others walk by, it becomes inconvenient as their personal space (proxemic) is limited. Personal space is perceived differently by people based on how much space they need surrounding them to feel comfortable. The walkway is bordered by a barrier that is designed to block the water on one side while creating seating on the other. The ledges are observed to be commonly used as a place to exercise and where children play exhibiting the affordance theory, which is how “people perceive opportunities for actions supported by the environment”. [3] These physical features along the path provide a suitable area for people to enter the park as an invitation to explore.
​
“people perceive opportunities for actions supported by the environment”
Figure 3: The square was mainly used as a pathway to get to the park but hardly occupied
Figure 1: Main path that runs across St. Lawrence Park
Figure 2: The beach was hidden to the right and hardly occupied
The open greenspace, which is visually separated from the condominiums that back onto it by a wall of trees is primarily used as an outdoor space for those buildings. The space is unpopulated as the greenspace is barren, with limited opportunities to find a comfortable spot to sit. During the observation, there are two instances of people using the space; one is a girl who sits there to eat lunch and the other is a family that stays for about 30 minutes to kick around a ball. Both activities are optional activities according to Jan Gehl’s theory. The girl that sits on the grass while eating lunch portrays the prospect-refuge theory, as she sits on the perimeter of the green space with her back towards the trees. As the space is so large and open, the need to feel secure by having one’s back towards an object to see the surrounding area creates a sense of comfort.
​
​
Figure 4: The gazebo was a secluded area that was intimate and could not hold a lot of people
The beach area is difficult to access due to large rocks that are strategically placed to prevent flooding in the event of rising tides. To get down to the beach, people need to rappel themselves down from over the rocks. This makes the area not suitable for people with disabilities. Due to the quality of the water and the lack of sand, the beach is not very popular as a place for people to socially interact. Yet, the beach is also an example of William H. Whyte theory of “people tend to sit where there are places to sit”, [4] by using the rock as seating to converse and look at the water. These interactions also showcase the idea of triangulation between people talking as their bodies tend to face the water instead of each other. Due to its size, the beach area creates a more intimate space for people to interact. People of different cultural backgrounds and age groups tend to be closer than anywhere else in the park avoiding the four zones of personal space.
The square is quite large and contains many design elements that are placed for people to use; however, the area is not used to its full potential. It has plenty of trees, plants and seating areas but because of the openness from all directions, many people do not use the space displaying the prospect-refuge theory. It has become an area that people walk through to get to the waterfront. As the space is quite large, it is not suitable for new interactions between strangers to casually occur, displaying elements of a poorly designed space. The square is commonly used for more intimate interactions between couples to sit and talk together. With the square facing the mechanical units and garage collection for a nearby condominium, it creates a less than desirable space to congregate. Jan Gehl, notices that areas with “..good views of surrounding activities are used more than areas with less or no views...”. [5] Therefore it confirms and acknowledges that the square is set up to be less used, while the rest of the park will be more populated as it has views to the water. The gazebo and its surrounding area have made the park well known. Many couples use the landscape of the gazebo as a backdrop for their wedding photos, making the park “Instagramable”. [6] It has added another layer to “What makes a place great?” by creating an impression on people before arriving at the park. Inside the gazebo, triangulation is exhibited as benches are used by people to interact with others by looking at the surrounding landscape. Along the perimeter are large rocks that people have adapted to use as seating areas to overlook the whole park. The strategic placemaking of these architectural features attract people to use them and create social environments in which people want to gather and visit. [7] It creates a sociable environment where people choose to meet up with friends or hang out with family.
areas with “..good views of surrounding activities are used more than areas with less or no views...”.
Figure 5 (top left) : The old man playing guitar attracted more people to enter the park
Figure 6 (top right) : There is no connections between the condominiums to the square
Figure 7 (bottom left) : A view showing the sloped grass and how people use the path overlooking the water
Figure 8 (bottom right) : This is another path that runs parallel to the water front. This allows for a more direct view
Mann, Tavleen. Evaluation Criteria and Breakdown,Brampton, Ontario. October 8, 2020.
[1] Jan Gehl, Life Between Spaces: Using Public Spaces (Island Press, 2011).
[2] Pinard, “Social: A Public Space and Placemaking.
[3] Ibid
[4] Whyte, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
[5] Gehl, Life Between Spaces: Using Public Spaces
[6] Pinard, “Social: A Public Space and Placemaking.”
[7] Ibid
bottom of page