Modus Operandi Within Landscapes Wasted Through Attrition

Abstract

The twentieth century revealed the American metropolis as a space that has consistently extended outward rather than expanding upward. Because the expansion evolved horizontally, urban spaces and landscape entities grew together as an indistinguishable, if not cohesive whole. However, countless landscapes caught in between were often ignored, and at times served no practical function. As the movement of low density urbanization continues to spread onward, it leaves in its wake "space voids". Locating this waste will reveal an opportunity to potentially reprogram the landscape to benefit its immediate context. The public has generally resisted the legitimacy of publicly funded reprogramming of these in-between spaces. However, cities are recognizing the negative impact of horizontal development. Threats of global warming and rising travel costs are contributing to a renewed interest in the reinhabitation of in-between landscape. These spaces tend to be located on the periphery of pre-war industrial-based urban cores. The other buffer created, came in the form of low-density sprawling suburbs. Utilization of these buffer zones for the reimplementation of mass transit will create a surplus of space for which to refashion America's horizontal landscape. Any new system will likely occur on an existing right-of-way which brings forth an opportunity to envision new uses for the abandoned landscapes parallel the right-of-way. These derelict spaces function as buffers between the neighborhoods and these wasted landscapes, but new uses would enable these landscapes to act as integrated corridors fusing the horizontal landscape.