The Nature of Cities: Ecocriticism and Urban Environments
- ISBN-10
- 0816519498
- ISBN-13
- 9780816519491
- Series
- The Nature of Cities
- Category
- Nature
- Pages
- 311
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1999
- Publisher
- University of Arizona Press
- Authors
- Michael Bennett, David Warfield Teague
Description
Cities are often thought to be separate from nature, but recent trends in ecocriticism demand that we consider them as part of the total environment. This new collection of essays sharpens the focus on the nature of cities by exploring the facets of an urban ecocriticism, by reminding city dwellers of their place in ecosystems, and by emphasizing the importance of this connection in understanding urban life and culture. The editorsÑboth raised in small towns but now living in major urban areasÑare especially concerned with the sociopolitical construction of all environments, both natural and manmade. Following an opening interview with Andrew Ross exploring the general parameters of urban ecocriticism, they present essays that explore urban nature writing, city parks, urban "wilderness," ecofeminism and the city, and urban space. The volume includes contributions on topics as wide-ranging as the urban poetry of English writers from Donne to Gay, the manufactured wildness of a gambling casino, and the marketing of cosmetics to urban women by idealizing Third World "naturalness." These essays seek to reconceive nature and its cultural representations in ways that contribute to understanding the contemporary cityscape. They explore the theoretical issues that arise when one attempts to adopt and adapt an environmental perspective for analyzing urban life. The Nature of Cities offers the ecological component often missing from cultural analyses of the city and the urban perspective often lacking in environmental approaches to contemporary culture. By bridging the historical gap between environmentalism, cultural studies, and urban experience, the book makes a statement of lasting importance to the development of the ecocritical movement. CONTENTS Part 1ÑThe Nature of Cities 1. Urban Ecocriticism: An Introduction, Michael Bennett & David Teague 2. The Social Claim on Urban Ecology, Andrew Ross (interviewed by Michael Bennett) Part 2ÑUrban Nature Writing 3. London Here and Now: Walking, Streets, and Urban Environments in English Poetry from Donne to Gay, Gary Roberts 4. "All Things Natural Are Strange": Audre Lorde, Urban Nature, and Cultural Place, Kathleen R. Wallace 5. Inculcating Wildness: Ecocomposition, Nature Writing, and the Regreening of the American Suburb, Terrell Dixon Part 3ÑCity Parks 6. Writers and Dilettantes: Central Park and the Literary Origins of Antebellum Urban Nature, Adam W. Sweeting 7. Postindustrial Park or Bourgeois Playground? Preservation and Urban Restructuring at Seattle's Gas Works Park, Richard Heyman Part 4ÑUrban "Wilderness" 8. Boyz in the Woods: Urban Wilderness in American Cinema, Andrew Light 9. Central High and the Suburban Landscape: The Ecology of White Flight, David Teague 10. Manufacturing the Ghetto: Anti-urbanism and the Spatialization of Race, Michael Bennett Part 5ÑEcofeminism and the City 11. An Ecofeminist Perspective on the Urban Environment, Catherine Villanueva Gardner 12. "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman": The Political Economy of Contemporary Cosmetics Discourse, Laura L. Sullivan Part 6ÑTheorizing Urban Space 13. Darwin's City, or Life Underground: Evolution, Progress, and the Shapes of Things to Come, Joanne Gottlieb 14. Nature in the Apartment: Humans, Pets, and the Value of Incommensurability, David R. Shumway 15. Cosmology in the Casino: Simulacra of Nature in the Interiorized Wilderness, Michael P. Branch
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-10-12
- 320 pages
- Ebook
- University of Arizona Press
-
- 1999-10
- 311 pages
- Paperback
- University of Arizona Press
-
- 2014-03-14
- 328 pages
- Paperback
- Johns Hopkins University Press
Similar books
-
In the Nature of Cities: Urban Political Ecology and the Politics of Urban Metabolism
By Maria Kaika, Erik Swyngedouw, Nik HeynenThe essays in this book attest that the re-entry of the ecological agenda into urban theory is vital both in terms of understanding contemporary urbanization processes, and of engaging in a meaningful environmental politics.
-
Ecological Urbanism: The Nature of the City
By Susannah HaganWhat is Ecological Urbanism? In answer, this book is neither definitive – impossible when a subject is still in motion – nor encyclopaedic – equally impossible when so much has been written on almost every aspect of these essays.
-
Cities and Nature
By John Rennie Short, Lisa Benton-ShortPearce, D. and Barboer, E. (2000) Blueprint for a Sustainable Economy, London: Earthscan. Jenkins, J., Riemann, R., Groffman, P., Pouyat, R. V., Grove, J. M., Nowak, D. and Birdsey, R. (2001) “What do urbanized regions contribute to the ...
-
Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature Into Urban Design and Planning
By Timothy BeatleyWhile these are important aspects of reimagining urban living, they are not enough, says Beatley. We must remember that human beings have an innate need to connect with the natural world (the biophilia hypothesis).
-
Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning
By Frederick R. Steiner, Armando Carbonell, George F. ThompsonChapters explore the economic, environmental, and public health benefits of integrating nature more fully into cities, including urban green spaces, streetscapes, and buildings"--
-
Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future
By Harini NagendraThis book charts Bengaluru’s journey from the early settlements in the 6th century CE to the 21st century city and demonstrates how nature has looked and behaved and has been perceived in Bengaluru’s home gardens, slums, streets, parks, ...
-
The Urban Geography Reader
By Nicholas R. Fyfe, Judith T. KennyA reader, this collection captures the diversity of scholarship in the field of urban geography by presenting a stimulating selection of articles and excerpts by leading figures, organized around seven themes.
-
Nature Next Door: Cities and Trees in the American Northeast
By Ellen StroudFor example, the USFS currently estimates that 396.6 acres, or 89 percent, of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, is forest land. It is difficult to compare this number, based on statistical field surveys and satellite photography, ...
-
The Nature of Economies
By Jane JacobsNow, in The Nature of Economies, Jacobs proposes a radical notion that has breath-taking common sense: economies are governed by the same rules as nature itself.
-
The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology
By Ian Douglas, David Goode, Mike HouckThis Handbook contains 50 interdisciplinary contributions from leading academics and practitioners from across the world to provide an in-depth coverage of the main elements of practical urban ecology.