Drosscape

Do you really know what is under that new house you just bought? How about what lies beneath the neighborhood playground? Was that "big box" retailer down your street built over a toxic site? These are just a few of the worrisome scenarios facing us all as our cities begin to redevelop old toxic waste sites—places Alan Berger has coined "drosscapes." Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America is your guide to this vast, hitherto largely ignored field of waste landscapes. Landscape architects must learn to accommodate these wastelands along with the more traditional challenges of site and construction. This will require a radical reconceptualization of thinking about landscape before potential solutions can be effectively addressed or devised. Ten cities are exam-ined both visually and analytically through the use of aerial photography and geospatially derived maps, charts, and graphs. Lured by tax incentives and the benefits of inadequate public awareness, corporate America is rapidly developing these toxic sites. It is our right to know about these danger zones underneath our communities and our duty to stay vigilant. Drosscape makes clear it is also a design challenge of the most pressing order.