In her research, Mela Zuljevic is interested in how the past is used as a resource in creating visions for the future redevelopment of historical landscapes. 

Through different case studies on landscapes in transition, she traces how the mobilisation of the past contributes to staging 'development' as a vision, but also to constructing this vision against an image of an 'underdeveloped' past. To challenge these constructions from a design perspective, she explores how we can engage with the past in participatory and critical ways, by following how it travels between the historical landscape and the design space.