PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Urban Jungle

Wilding the City, from the author of Metropolis

Ben Wilson

$55

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
Jonathan Cape Ltd
02 April 2023
An eye-opening and urgent exploration of nature and the city - past, present and future. This is thrilling re-examination of the way we live by a brilliant historian and thinker.

For millennia, cities have seemed to represent our separation from the natural world and our victory over it. They are a kind of battleground, where humans have used technologies to reengineer the environment. In the early 21st century, we have reached a turning point- we have now urbanised our planet, but natural forces - be they rising waters, storms, droughts or pandemics - look set to determine the fate of our cities in the future.

In fact, as Ben Wilson reveals, nature has always been at the heart of the city, and our post-industrial cities are much wilder places that we might imagine, with booming animal and plant populations. The project of rewilding the city has already begun. People around the world are realising that cities are not dead, artificial zones, but complex and diverse habitats, and a place that is healthy for animals and plants is healthier for humans as well. Where cities once built walls and towers to defend against attack; now they have to become greener to protect themselves from external threats.

Rewilding the city is not a distant utopian dream- nature is already reclaiming the city. In a time of climate crisis, the city is both problem and solution. The extent to which cities strike a balance with nature will determine the fate of our cities. We stand at a crossroads. Our future-and that of the planet-will be made in the city.

By:  
Imprint:   Jonathan Cape Ltd
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 162mm,  Spine: 30mm
Weight:   534g
ISBN:   9781787333130
ISBN 10:   1787333132
Pages:   304
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  ELT Advanced ,  Primary
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Ben Wilson is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including What Price Liberty?, for which he received the Somerset Maugham Award; the Sunday Times bestseller Empire of the Deep; and, most recently, Heyday- The Dawn of the Global Age. Born in London in 1980, he has worked in television, broadcast on the radio in several countries, and writes regularly for publications such as The Times, Daily Telegraph and Prospect. He lives in Suffolk, UK.

Reviews for Urban Jungle: Wilding the City, from the author of Metropolis

Urban Jungle teems with ideas, stories and proposals, presented with charm, eloquence and wit. It is novel and provocative... I was often left wanting more, so much the better. * The Times * 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. -- Isabella Tree, author of Wilding 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. * Daily Mail * 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. * Literary Review * 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. * Country & Town House * 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. -- Arthur Kay, founder and CEO of Skyroom 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. -- Sian Sutherland, founder of A Plastic Planet A compelling case for bringing more nature into the city. * Tablet * Wilson...soars like a falcon over global cities on five continents while leading the reader through centuries of history. His chapters...are full of statistics and eye-catching examples. * Washington Post *


See Inside

See Also