Industrial Playground - Let's Play with the City!

The city of Saint Louis, Missouri, has lost nearly 500,000 residents since the 1950s, while its metropolitan area has gained nearly one million over the same period. In this context of peri-urbanization, a few neighborhoods in St. Louis City County have the highest population densities, and some are even seeing their population grow, such as Downtown. A revival is taking hold of this area with new urban projects, one of the highest start-up rates in the United States, and a young population that accompanies them. In order to maintain this demographic and urban dynamic, the Chouteau's Landing neighborhood is being considered for its industrial heritage close to abandonment, next to the Downtown. Its revitalization is moving towards a multi-functional district oriented towards leisure, a concept that emerges from the need for entertainment for the new inhabitants of St. Louis, as well as from the opportunity that the infrastructures present on the site offer. The MacArthur Bridge lends itself to soft mobility and recreation because of its height, the abandoned industrial buildings allow for space-intensive recreational activities, the space under the highways surrounding the neighborhood is transformed into playgrounds to encourage access to the neighborhood, and the vacant lot and its flood wall are converted into a terraced park to protect against flooding in a playful manner.