An eye-opening and urgent re-examination of nature in our cities,from the Sunday Times bestselling winner of the Somerset Maugham Award'Novel and provocative'THE TIMES'Awe-inspiring'ISABELLA TREE,author of WildingOur modern-day cities might seem to represent our separation from the natural world. In fact,as Ben Wilson reveals in this captivating re-examination of urban landscapes around the world,nature has always been at the heart of the city.Urban Jungle explores the wild side of cities past,present and future: the middens,abandoned sites and strips of land alongside railway lines. For much of history,wild patches in cities were essential for city-dwellers and the dividing line between city and countryside was blurred. Even our post-industrial cities are much wilder that we imagine - if we know where to look. On today's urbanised planet,natural forces - be they floods,storms,droughts or pandemics - look set to determine the future. In a time of climate crisis,cities that once built walls and towers to defend against attack now have to become greener to protect themselves from external threats.Our future - and that of the planet - will be made in the city. Only by looking deep into the past,examining the present and casting an eye to the future can we really begin to understand the bountiful potential and wonder of our extraordinary urban ecosystems.
Publisher: Vintage PublishingISBN: 9781787333130Number of pages: 304Weight: 534 gDimensions: 240 x 162 x 30 mm
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Teems with ideas,stories and proposals,presented with charm,eloquence and wit. It is novel and provocative... I was often left wanting more.Awe-inspiring in its scope,Wilson's thrilling immersion in the age-old interconnectedness of city and nature is full of wonder,warning and hope - a rallying cry for urban rewilding.Illuminating... Wilson leaves readers with hope about the future of efforts to preserve the ecosystems that surround us,as well as a new perspective that looks beyond the concrete and asphalt when walking along a city's streets.Wilson provides an array of fascinating examples of urban ecology through the ages... Written in an authoritative yet accessible style,Urban Jungle contains a range of intriguing insights.Urban Jungle is a beguiling and beautifully written tapestry of history and ecology examining how cities and the natural world of plants,trees,birds,animals,and insects have co-existed,beneficially and otherwise,since time immemorial.Delightful,insightful,and easy to read. Wilson shows us that,however distant we feel from nature,we have and will always be part of it.Imagine if we could see our urban streets with new eyes,start to use every spare space to grow food,carbon-sequestering green,shady areas to cool and make our cities more liveable. This richly researched book shows us this is more possible than we imagine,because Nature is irrepressible and will appear in every crevice at every opportunity to remind us that we cannot live without her.A compelling case for bringing more nature into the city.Wilson soars like a falcon over global cities on five continents while leading the reader through centuries of history. Full of statistics and eye-catching examples.
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