When we consider the future of the Chicago region, planners and architects can’t help but have an eye on the element of earth, particularly that which stands vacant. That’s the topic, in fact, of the book Terra Incognita: Vacant Land and Urban Strategies. Co-author Michael Pagano is the Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Eight Forty-Eight‘s Alison Cuddy spoke with Pagano last year about the way in which we use vacant land. Pagano says many eyes look at open space and see a potential office tower or condominium complex. And then some land is seen in a different light.