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https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/115Keywords:
urban sprawl, dispersed territories, urban transformation, green infrastructure, landscape architectureAbstract
This article explores how insights from past and present North American infrastructure projects can inform the rethinking of infrastructure’s role in the transformation of European ‘dispersed territories’, i.e. low-density urban-rural configurations. Framed by the concept of the “territorial palimpsest”, this paper adopts a qualitative, comparative case study approach to examine how infrastructure design can mediate the urban-rural divide. Through diachronic analysis, it considers several twentieth-century infrastructural imaginaries and contemporary projects. While acknowledging the fundamental socio-political and spatial differences between North American urban sprawl and European dispersed territories, the selected cases offer critical insights into the role of infrastructure as a catalyst for socio-ecological and spatial change. Each case is examined through a common analytical lens to uncover how infrastructure is conceived and deployed. The paper concludes by distilling lessons for the European context, including the importance of integrating design ambition with feasibility, engaging with governance structures, embracing multifunctional and hybrid strategies, and re-evaluating existing conditions as opportunities. These insights aim to support a more adaptive and interdisciplinary understanding of infrastructure as a catalyst for resilient and inclusive spatial transformation beyond the traditional urban-rural dichotomy.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sophie Leemans, Erik Van Daele, Maarten Gheysen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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