Blue voids: stormwater strategies for abandoned lands

The technological parameters of green infrastructure and the development of strategies dedicated to improving water capture and quality have received a great deal of attention. A number of cities with urgent need for water infrastructure overhaul also contend with vast amounts of abandoned land. Yet there has been little exploration of systematic urban restructuring, integrating hydrological planning with vacant land management. Here, case studies in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Detroit are analyzed for their potential to address the dual challenges of water infrastructure and urban land abandonment. They are evaluated for their feasibility, hydrological ambition, vacant land repurposing, and city-wide restructuring. As a contrast to the dominance of planning and engineering perspectives within stormwater discourse, emphasis is placed on design, spatial framework, and urban transformation.