An anthology of essays discussing urban margins and interstices as urban wildscapes, ambiguous places where users subvert authority and seek recreation in the unregulated territory and autonomous nature. The definition is similar to Shoard, M. (2000) Edgelands of Promise, however, the focus is not on interfacial space but a wider breadth of urban spaces that have a natural agency shaping the land.
Broken into three parts, theorising, case studies and implications for practice, the anthology challenges preconceptions of urban space with the aim of convincing the reader (architects, urban planners, academics, perhaps artists) to engage with autonomous nature through a dichotomous conception of culture and nature. The contributors are from a wide range of disciplines from environmentalists, academic researchers, social scientists, artists, architects and landscape planners. The wide breadth gives the anthology a significant weight for defining these spaces. Additionally, the large number of international contributions, both author and subject wise, provides a western post-industrial perspective with different viewpoints from US and European perspectives. Of the contributions, Jorgensen’s introduction is relatable with its photographic illustrations of Sheffield -locations and scenes I am familiar with, while ‘Places to be wild in nature’ by Thompson, C. W explores societies relationship with the natural world through public open spaces, ‘Learning from Detroit’ by Woodward, C looks to the post-industrial rust belt of Detroit and its contemporary ruins for inspiration as tourism and urban gardening activities are carried out.