Reclaimed ground
'Making up ground' - online podcast, article and videos by 99% Invisible (2016)
A wide-ranging podcast on land reclamation in San Francisco, Dubai, Singapore, Shenzhen, Mumbai, Tokyo, Lagos and other cities throughout the world, with links to numerous relevant videos. Reporter Emmett Fitzgerald speaks to archaeologist James Delgado and geographer Stephen Graham. Topics discussed include the burial of ships in ground in harbour areas of San Francisco, the making of artificial islands off the coast of Dubai, the stealing of sand from poorer countries to make the ground of richer places such as Singapore, and so on. Much discussion of the relevance of the archaeosphere concept as effectively a new geological layer on the surface of the Earth.
99% Invisible. 2016, Making up ground. Online podcast and article, available here
'Cities on the shore: the urban littoral frontier' - a book by Brian J Hudson (1996)
Hudson, B.J. 1996. Cities on the shore: the urban littoral frontier. Pinter: London. The book's Amazon page is here
A brilliant geographical account of how the urban littoral frontier has been advancing (occasionally retreating too) for centuries, millenia in some cases, with cities spreading out into the oceans, estuaries, lakes and rivers on reclaimed ground - a global-scale process of urban expansion. Cities discussed include Boston, San Francisco, Hong Kong, with dozens of other examples from around the world.
'Terra-Sorta-Firma: Reclaiming the littoral gradient'. Book edited by Fadi Masoud (2021)
Documents the extent and growth of 're-claimed land' through some wonderful maps of coastal cities throughout the world which are effectively making their own ground, pushing out into what was formerly water. In the sense that many of the maps brilliantly introduce the dimension of time, showing the process of landmaking and rates of expansion, revealing cities and the ground on which they stand to be the shape-shifting entities they really are, the book extends our notions of what an atlas can do. It considers the vulnerability of reclaimed land to climate change and sea-level rise, and the implications this has for landscape design . Although the book cites the archaeosphere as a framing concept, it is about more than just the archaeology and geology of reclaimed land - the mapping of what is there - but also about the re-thinking of the design and engineering of it that might be necessary to cope with environmental challenges.
Masoud, Fadi. (ed) 2021. “Terra-Sorta-Firma: Reclaiming the Littoral Gradient.” Actar: Barcelona – New York. Visit the dynamic online digital atlas of sites here, The book's Amazon page is here
'Borrowed' land and urban density: is your city built on reclaimed land? - an online article by Urban Land Architect (2017)
Reflections on reclaimed land and the archaeosphere,
Urban Land Architect 2017, Borrowed land and urban density: is your city built on reclaimed land? April 17. Online article, available here