Landscape Studies

Overview

We undertake research to generate knowledge of landscapes as both material spaces and cultural constructs and apply the knowledge to improve governance systems and landscape design. Our interests encompass the ecological, social, cultural and political dimensions of landscapes, and we aim to advance the field of landscape studies through situated research in Asia, and beyond. Our research informs policies and practices and shapes novel landscape planning design strategies across spatial scales, enabled by both pre-evaluative and post-evaluative tools of urban science, as well as the power of cultural explanation.

Learning from Singapore, we critically engage in landscape transformations across Asia related to global issues like climate change and coastal resiliency; peri-urban transformations; deforestation and biodiversity extinction; plantation and waste ecologies; and the governance and politics of nature-based solutions in high-density settlements. Other key spatial landscape concerns include urban edges and rural intensification in rice-growing landscapes of Monsoon Asia; the role of energy and transportation infrastructure in refiguring power and settlements across Asia and Africa; role of landscape in self-built settlements; and the role of cultural landscapes and the tool of heritage in the formation of narratives and counter narratives for the future.

The Landscape Studies cluster uses methods of spatial ecology, computer vision and digital models, archival research, fieldwork, built experiments, and innovative forms of representation and participation. Our means of communication include top-level peer-reviewed research publications, as well as exhibition, workshop, installation and award-winning professional landscape architecture practice. Overall, we are a diverse cluster, reflecting the broad perspectives represented by landscapes, and welcome other perspectives and approaches to enrich and further our shared practices and impact in the field of landscape studies and landscape architecture globally.