The history of the Cromarty Firth area is dominated by its being involved as a military site as well as its post-industrial sites that have been abandoned. All of these historical roots continue to be signified by extant vestiges of infrastructures of past oil industries that, though deserted for years, still dot the natural landscape. With worldwide oil production in decline and increasing trends shifting towards greener energy sources, will similar oil-related infrastructures in the UK – or even around the world – face the same fate as the neglected industrial infrastructures in the Cromarty Firth? As landscape architects, can we give some insight into these oil-related industrial sites in this project during the post-oil world that need to be transformed? So, my question about this project is, if abandoned industrial sites are not completely erased or preserved to tell a particular story, how can they be developed in creative ways that not only connect with the past but also remind the future audience?

 

The term “natural capital” refers to environmental elements that can provide ecological services and natural assets that can – directly or indirectly – create value for people. Examples of natural capital include arable land, fossil fuels, biodiversity, temperature regulation, oxygen, and so on. These natural assets can attract a diverse range of businesses, particularly in the oil and gas industry.

 

The Cromarty Firth is a typical example of human destruction of natural capital in favour of developing the oil and gas industry. History shows that, from WWI, furnace oil used in warships fueled the victory in that world war. Since oil supply became a critical element in winning the war, the naval base at Invergordon developed a large number of oil-related infrastructures in its vicinity. As a result, infrastructures were constructed in the various sites around Cromarty Firth. Woodlands, farmlands, and grasslands disappeared, replaced by oil tanks, machines, and pump houses. To address the issue of increased labour costs, increasing areas and habitats were converted into buildings to accommodate more people, eventually causing habitat fragmentation. Thus, the loss of natural habitat through land-use practices is recognised as a significant threat to biodiversity in Cromarty Firth. The Invergordon Naval Base in Cromarty Firth were among the naval bases in Britain that were closed down after World War II.

 

Consequently, facing the decommissioning, grand large industrial infrastructures, including chemically contaminated sites, were abandoned and their history obliterated. To make matters worse, the economic downturn development distressed the local communities. Since a portion of Woodland, Farmland, and grassland was wiped as Natural capital at Cromarty Firth, it has had an impact on both humans and non-human species. Habitat fragmentation can undermine the integrity of whole ecosystems. Roads, towns, and agriculture became the main elements that break up natural areas. This could bring disaster to wildlife in Cromarty Firth. So, in this project, I tried to return the natural capital to Cromarty Firth through the landscape architecturally led approach.

An investigation of the territory revealed three industrial sites centrally located in or near the towns of Cromarty Firth. The largest and most potentially significant site is the Seabank Tank Farm in Invergordon. There are two objectives to achieving specific project goals at Seabank Tank Farm that can also be used in the other two sites.  

 

The first objective is regenerating those abandoned post-industrial sites into post-industrial parks. I have applied two design interventions in the park, like utilizing the dynamic landscape system for remediation and reusing existing materials from infrastructures for sustainable environmental development. The return of woodland, wetland, etc., will benefit humans again as natural capital. Then, the transformed parks can be a hub to active the surrounding towns. Meanwhile, the second intervention maintains two large oil tanks as historical scars to remind people, the trace of a wound. For other infrastructures, they can be recycled or reused in the post-industrial park to understand the more-than-human Anthropocene where we live. However, because the three post-industrial parks are disconnected, enhancing biodiversity within Cromarty Firth is not enough.

 

Therefore, the second objective I introduced is establishing greener streets as ecological corridors to bridge the post-industrial network. Human and non-human species can co-exist here. Eventually, this post-industrial network can connect different habitats as well as provide a post-industrial tourism destination for local and visitors.

 

The overall significance of this project is in the fact that post-industrial sites are of particular interest because they showcase collisions and overlaps between human and non-human processes that occur in an extremely condensed manner, layering in their interdependencies the various issues of cultural, social, economic, and ecological deconstruction and fragmentation, as well as hinting at more fundamental questions of human existence and interrelations with their environments. Therefore, the proposed suggestions for the post-industrial network in Invergordon engaged the multiplicities of history and integrated them into present-day needs and perceptions. It is true that, someday, everything can be forgotten. However, what I want to tell through this project is that, instead of ameliorating the past mistakes of post-industrial sites, landscape architects should take on the responsibilities of establishing innovative, viable, as well as self-sustainable ways of remembering, rethinking, and returning what has been destroyed.