Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning / Jessica Canfield / The Kansas City downtown area is experiencing a population influx, which is projected to increase over the next few decades, requiring new residential areas and increased parkland in the downtown. The Kansas City West Bottoms, located between the downtowns of Kansas City Missouri and Kansas City Kansas, is an urban district plagued by vast tracts of underutilized land, poor connectivity, and vulnerability to flooding. To address the issues of the West Bottoms and the area’s need for new urban development, this project proposes the implementation of a new urban park that both supports and is supported by a new urban district. In order to transform the West Bottoms into a vibrant mixed-use community, the park and redevelopment will be phased in over a period of 33 years. Intermediate natures, landscapes that temporarily occupy and improve parts of the city undergoing transformation, will be used to preserve current open space, which will later transition into parkland as the district grows. Ultimately, West Bottoms 2048 will draw users and activity to the district while generating a lasting environmental and economic impact on the downtown area.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / There are six square miles of vacant land spread throughout Downtown Kansas City unkempt and untouched for the fear of what may exist in the soil, air, and water and the consequences that come with it (COR Team 2010, EPA 1997). Not developing the vacant/underutilized land causes more harm than good for the city, the locals, and the environment. It costs the city loss of tax revenue (Holt 2002). It hurts locals’ property values and possibly health. It inhibits the environment’s functions with potential toxins. By activating vacant/underutilized land through phytoremediation and redevelopment, it can meet the needs of the projected population growth in the next 30 years, accommodate the Rock Island Corridor, and dissolve any threats of contamination. With the threat of possible contamination on the vacant/underutilized land, surrounding properties, and industrial properties within the culturally rich Jazz and Crossroads districts downtown, phytoremediation is used as a continuation of the Rock Island Corridor’s linear park system and transit in the city context while allowing for redevelopment. The strategy examines regional to site specific strategies where phytoremediation is used to connect people to the environment, contain contaminant-producing places, and counteract contamination from new development. The development serves as a model for Kansas City to use the Rock Island Corridor to control site-specific problems as a catalyst for redevelopment of districts to solve large-scale issues through the use of phytoremediation. Phytoremediation allows for light contaminant production industries to remain functional and rely on phytoremediation to clean some of the waste to prevent excessive clean up in the future. With the help of the phytoremediation and development, it allows for us to understand how phytoremediation works while preventing sites from becoming vacant/underutilized urban areas for the betterment of the community as a proactive strategy to prevent brownfields. Phytoremediation supports sustainable preventative/remediation strategies while catering to community needs such as redevelopment along Rock Island Corridor and Common Line, multi-modal transit, Metrogreen, character of place, and city life. It blends site suitability with community needs, while creating a cleaner more efficient environment that is aesthetically appealing.