The voice of the rural small town: how architecture can inspire locally grounded growth in Parry Sound, Ontario

Abstract

Many rural areas in Canada are financially dependent on tourism. There are negative effects of this dependency on the local working class as these small towns transition from tourism towards a community designed for an aging affluent population. Using Parry Sound as a case study, this thesis attempts to investigate how architecture could serve the neglected local working class by incentivizing investment in the local community rather than catering to seasonal tourism. Covid-19 also emphasized the gap in access to healthcare and lack of overall well-being, issues that the local community faced but the seasonal resident did not. This thesis found that a grounded design that amplified the voice of the local community would best aid their existing efforts to grow. Discussions with the local community organizations working in these areas provided the perspectives necessary to design an adequate program that would assist local grounded growth in Parry Sound. Through the lenses of housing, health, and food, architecture could support the existing network of community initiatives to achieve self-agency. A mixed-use design provides the necessary community spaces for these initiatives to foster a connection to people and landscape and achieve locally grounded growth.