After the murders of three people experiencing homelessness in Seattle’s East Duwamish Greenbelt (colloquially known by the dehumanizing term “The Jungle”), MxM team members were invited to provide input on securing, maintaining, programming, and re-envisioning this overlooked space.

Rather than relying on hostile architecture as a means of exclusion, the team of landscape architects and engineers proposed a suite of over 40 short- and long-term interventions that could be deployed including: using this public land for tiny house villages and micro housing; urban forest restoration; and new programs like food trucks, adventure courses, trails, climbing walls, sports courts, and mountain bike parks. Environmental interventions like greenhouses and green stormwater infrastructure were also envisioned as opportunities to create green jobs that integrated homeless and low-income community members back into the workforce.

Project completed by Brice Maryman while at MIG