Planning Wild Cities

This book critically engages with the contemporary challenges and opportunities of wild cities in a climate of change. A key focus of the book is exploring the nexus of possibilities for wild cities and the eco-ethical imagination needed to drive sustainable and resilient urban pathways. Many now have serious doubts about the prospects for humanity to live within cities that are socially just and responsive to planetary limits. Is it possible for planning to better serve, protect and nurture our human and non-human worlds? This book argues it is. Drawing on international literature and Australian case examples, this book explores issues around climate change, colonization, urban (in)security and the rights to the city for both humans and nature. It is within this context that this book focuses on the urgent need to better understand how contemporary cities have changed, and the relational role of planning within it. Planning Wild Cities will be of particular interest to students and scholars of planning, urban studies, and sustainable development, and for all those invested in re-shaping our ‘wild’ city futures.

Discusses the benefits and risks, as well as the economic and socio-political realities, of rewilding as a novel conservation tool.

"This publication offers practical advice and inspiration for ensuring that nature in the city is more than infrastructure--that it also promotes well-being and creates an emotional connection to the earth among urban residents. Divided into six parts, the Handbook begins by introducing key ideas, literature, and theory about biophilic urbanism. Chapters highlight urban biophilic innovations in more than a dozen global cities. The final part concludes with lessons on how to advance an agenda for urban biophilia and an extensive list of resources."--Publisher.

This volume demonstrates how urban climate science can provide valuable information for planning healthy cities. The book illustrates the idea of "Science in Time, Science in Place" by providing worldwide case-based urban climatic planning applications for a variety of regions and countries, utilizing relevant climatic-spatial planning experiences to address local climatic and environmental health issues. Comprised of three major sections entitled "The Rise of Mega-cities and the Concept of Climate Resilience and Healthy Living," "Urban Climate Science in Action," and "Future Challenges and the Way Forward," the book argues for the recognition of climate as a key element of healthy cities. Topics covered include: urban resilience in a climate context, climate responsive planning and urban climate interventions to achieve healthy cities, climate extremes, public health impact, urban climate-related health risk information, urban design and planning, and governance and management of sustainable urban development. The book will appeal to an international audience of practicing planners and designers, public health and built environment professionals, social scientists, researchers in epidemiology, climatology and biometeorology, and international to city scale policy makers. Chapter “Manchester: The Role of Urban Domestic Gardens in Climate Adaptation and Resilience” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Amsterdamse Bos, Bois de Boulognes, Epping Forest, Hong Kong’s country parks, Stanley Park: throughout history cities across the world have developed close relationships with nearby woodland areas. In some cases, cities have even developed – and in some cases are promoting – a distinct ‘forest identity’. This book introduces the rich heritage of these city forests as cultural landscapes, and shows that cities and forests can be mutually beneficial. Essential reading for students and researchers interested in urban sustainability and urban forestry, this book also has much wider appeal. For with city forests playing an increasingly important role in local government sustainability programs, it provides an important reference for those involved in urban planning and decision making, public affairs and administration, and even public health. From providers of livelihoods to healthy recreational environments, and from places of inspiration and learning to a source of conflict, the book presents examples of city forests from around the world. These cases clearly illustrate how the social and cultural development of towns and forests has often gone hand in hand. They also reveal how better understanding of city forests as distinct cultural and social phenomena can help to strengthen synergies both between cities and forests, and between urban society and nature.

'A deeply evocative, highly descriptive and thoroughly enjoyable plunge into Britain's urban wildlife with an authentically hopeful message' Geographical Magazine City-dwellers, it's time to meet your neighbours. In Wild City Florence Wilkinson takes us on a fascinating journey into why we should engage with our fellow urban species, from the badgers of central Brighton, to tunnel-dwelling Black Country bats to the mosquitoes found on the London Underground and nowhere else on earth. She shares what we might see - if we only take the time to look - and how nature is adapting to human-engineered environments in unexpected and ingenious ways. This gorgeously lyrical book invites us to celebrate the natural world, while also offering a clear-eyed glimpse into the challenges faced by urban plants and animals as cities grow and sprawl. Florence proposes a compelling manifesto for city wildlife, suggesting how we might take action to protect the often-overlooked residents who live alongside us. 'Wild City is as bright and hopeful as a dandelion springing up through the crack between pavings' Hannah Bourne Taylor 'An enjoyable and timely reminder that we are never alone' Tristan Gooley