Smit, EmmieNel, Verna2018-03-012018-03-012016Smit, E., & Nel, V. (2016). Alienation, reception and participative spatial planning on marginalised campuses during transformational processes. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 3, 1154715. doi:10.1080/23311983.2016.11547152331-1983 (online)http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2016.1154715http://hdl.handle.net/11660/7887Scientific publications acknowledge that geographical setting contributes greatly to the unique identity—and eventual sustainability and distinction—of a higher educational institution. This includes the marginalised campus—the satellite, secondary, branch, remote, rural or regional. Alienation of the marginalised campus from the main/mainstream campus forms an international discourse. This conceptual article aims to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the theoretical basis for spatial planning of a marginalised campus by considering a combination of the participative spatial planning (PSP) approach and theories of alienation and reception from the disciplines of the performing arts, philosophy, sociology, economy, literary history, cultural studies and landscaping. Based on well-established theories of alienation and reception, as well as on the positive outcomes of the PSP approach, this conceptual article provides a novel motivation for considering the influence of participation and non-participation and the long-term consequences of alienation and reception to planning projects.enCritical thinkingGroup communicationHigher education managementSubculturesUrban culturesSatellite campusRural and remote campusBranch campusDistance campusNorthern traditionSouthern tradition© 2016 University of the Free State, South Africa. This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.ArticleAuthor(s) hold(s) copyright