Designing Devolution

Abstract

This thesis explores the post-extraction potentials of Arctic infrastructural landscapes, focusing on Kiruna and the Norrbotten Technological Megasystem, to propose a transformation towards a post-capital landscape of co-existence. It interrogates the historically mono-functional, sacrificial, and determinate nature of these landscapes, emphasising the need to rethink extraction practices and their socio-ecological impacts. Combining design theory, political ecology, and economic geography this study articulates transformation strategies that couples sacrificial and repair processes, decentralises control to empower local and indigenous communities, and introduces indeterminacy to accommodate ecological and social uncertainties.
The research posits that by reconfiguring the spatial logic of extraction infrastructures through their post extraction transformation potential (post-project), it is possible to devolve power, regenerate nature-cultures, and most importantly foster interdependencies and ecodependencies which can guide and regulate anticipated extraction (anti-project). The thesis presents a meta-project that scales these principles to the broader Norrbotten region, advocating for a devolution of control that encompasses economic, ecological, and social dimensions and use spatial production and accumulations as a guide to the territorial transformation.
Ultimately, the thesis contributes to the discourse on post-capital futures, offering insights into the role of design in mediating between extraction practices and the material manifestations within affected landscapes. It calls for an epistemic shift towards viewing human and nature as dialectic, advocating for a co-produced future that respects both ecological integrity and cultural heritage in making the landscape of co-existence.