Marginal Land, Meaningful Futures
Lynnette Widder
Conduct a deep investigation into a piece of “wasteland” or “marginal land” in your community — land relegated to marginal status through development, disinvestment, environmental damage, or historical exclusion. Research its history, current status, and potential futures. Develop a design intervention that challenges the binary of wilderness versus wasteland and explores how we might reconsider marginal spaces in the context of climate change and resettlement.
4 weeks
Parameters
Choose a locally accessible site designated as wasteland, vacant, marginal, or underutilized
Research the site's historical use, including indigenous land history where applicable
Examine the power dynamics that led to the site’s current status
Consider climate adaptation and green infrastructure potential
Engage with concepts of commons and community access
Avoid colonial improvement narratives
Deliverables
Site documentation: maps, photographs, historical timeline
Stakeholder analysis: who has been included/excluded historically
Design proposal boards (3–5 boards)
Community engagement plan
Research paper (2000–2500 words) connecting your site to broader wasteland discourse
Presentation on how the site might serve resettlement or energy transition needs
Resources
Wasteland: A History by Vittoria Di Palma
Article: “Against Wastelanding: Distributed Design at the Pace of Soil”, Landscape Research
In the Wake of the Plague by Norman F. Cantor
Article: “The Sociocultural Construction of Urban Wasteland”, ResearchGate
Documentary: Edgelands
Podcast: 99% Invisible (episodes on forgotten infrastructure and marginal spaces)
Listen to this episode of Climify Season 4, episode 10 here.
