City of Dorval Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

In response to increasingly intense rainfall driven by climate change, a climate adaptation strategy was developed for the City of Dorval that positions public space as a central component of urban resilience. Streets, parks, and public rights-of-way are reimagined not only as places for movement and gathering, but as active infrastructure capable of managing stormwater and reducing climate-related risks, while enhancing everyday urban life.

Based on a territory-wide assessment of the area’s vulnerabilities, drainage networks, and topography, the strategy addresses the combined pressures of an undersized stormwater system and growing precipitation intensity within a constrained urban fabric. Solutions are designed to be implemented primarily within public spaces, respecting existing parks, mature trees, and established streetscapes, while identifying opportunities where modest, well-integrated interventions can deliver meaningful impact. Budget estimates and cost-benefit analyses grounded in measurable environmental and social outcomes were delivered to support decision making by the City.

Across selected streets and parks in Dorval’s residential neighbourhoods, proposed interventions introduce planted basins, rain gardens, bioswales, and shallow landscaped depressions that temporarily capture, store, and treat surface runoff during heavy rainfall. These features provide long-term value in terms of climate resilience, reduced damage from extreme weather events, improved comfort, and healthier, more adaptable public spaces. They notably present the ability to cool surrounding areas, improve air and water quality, and add new layers of greenery to the urban landscape.

The global strategy functions as a flexible and replicable catalogue of interventions adaptable to varied urban conditions over time. Bringing together landscape architecture, urban planning, and civil engineering, the project makes climate adaptation visible and experiential.