Urban wildscapes / edited by Anna Jorgensen and Richard Keenan.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Jorgensen, Anna.

Keenan, Richard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban ecology (Sociology).

Wilderness areas.

Vacant lands.

Abandoned buildings.

Physical Description:

xv, 252 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2012.

Summary:

Urban Wildscapes is one of the first edited collections of writings about urban 'wilderness' landscapes. Evolved, rather than designed or planned, these derelict, abandoned and marginal spaces are frequently overgrown with vegetation and host to a wide range of human activities. They include former industrial sites, landfill, allotments, cemeteries, woods, infrastructural corridors, vacant-lots and a whole array of urban wastelands at a variety of different scales. Frequently maligned in the media, these landscapes have recently been re-evaluated and this collection assembles these fresh perspectives in one volume.

Combining theory with illustrated examples and case studies, the book demonstrates that urban wildscapes have far greater significance, meaning and utility than is commonly thought, and that an appreciation of their particular qualities can inform a far more sustainable approach to the planning, design and management of the wider urban landscape.

The wildscapes under investigation in this book are found in diverse locations throughout the UK, Europe, China and the US. They vary in scale from small sites to entire cities or regions, and from discrete locations to the imaginary wildscapes of children's literature. Many different themes are addressed including the natural history of wildscapes, their significance as a location for all kinds of playful activity, the wildscape as 'commons' and the implications for landscape architectural practice, ranging from planting interventions in wildscapes to the design of the urban public realm on whildscape principles.

Background information on Urban Wildscapes can be found at www.urban wildscapes.org Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Theorizing Wildscapes 15

1 Learning from Detroit or 'the wrong kind of ruins' / Christopher Woodward Woodward, Christopher 17

2 Appreciating urban wildscapes: towards a natural history of unnatural places / Paul H. Gobster Gobster, Paul H. 33

3 Places to be wild in nature / Catharine Ward Thompson Thompson, Catharine Ward 49

4 Playing in industrial ruins: interrogating teleological understandings of play in spaces of material alterity and low surveillance / Tim Edensor Edensor, Tim, Bethan Evans Evans, Bethan, Julian Holloway Holloway, Julian, Steve Millington Millington, Steve, Jon Binnie Binnie, Jon 65

5 Nature, nurture; danger, adventure; junkyard, paradise: the role of wildscapes in children's literature / Katy Mugford Mugford, Katy 80

Part 2 Wildscape Case Studies 97

6 Brown coal, blue paradise: the restoration of opencast coal mines in Lusatia, Germany / Renée De Waal Waal, Renée De, Arjen De Wit Wit, Arjen De 99

7 Wildscape in Shanghai: a case study of the Houtan Wetland Park - Expo 2010 Shanghai / Yichen Li Li, Yichen 111

8 Christiania Copenhagen: a common out of the ordinary / Maria Hellström Reimer Reimer, Maria Hellström 120

9 The River Don as a linear urban wildscape / Ian D. Rotherham Rotherham, Ian D. 131

10 Enhancing ruderal perennials in Manor Fields Park, Sheffield: a new park on the 'bandit lands' of urban green space dereliction / Marian Tylecote Tylecote, Marian, Nigel Dunnett Dunnett, Nigel 141

11 Pure urban nature: Nature-Park Südgelände, Berlin / Andreas Langer Langer, Andreas 152

12 Upstaging nature: art in Sydenham Hill Wood / Helen Morse Palmer Palmer, Helen Morse 160

Part 3 Implications for Wildscape Practice 169

13 Buried narratives / Catherine Heatherington Heatherington, Catherine 171

14 Taming the wild: Gyllin's Garden and the urbanization of a wildscape / Mattias Qviström Qviström, Mattias 187

15 Disordering public space: urban wildscape processes in practice / Dougal Sheridan Sheridan, Dougal 201

16 Anti-planning, anti-design?: exploring alternative ways of making future urban landscapes / Anna Jorgensen Jorgensen, Anna, Lilli Licka Licka, Lilli 221.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415581059

0415581052

9780415581066

0415581060

OCLC:

690084850