The purpose of this study was to examine the possibilities of creating a trail near the town of Alingsås in southern sweden, preferably a round trip connecting all the 5 nature reserves that lies near town. The aim was to investigate the potential of an easily passable trail using mainly existing roads and trails, that at the same time, would pass many interesting nature areas around the town that could give the visitor nature experiences. Another aim was also to examine if there was any area fitting to create a shorter trail, about 10 kilometres long.   The passability of trails connecting some of 42 pre-marked areas was studied together with examination of the nature types and the experience these gave in terms of natural and cultural experiences.   The results showed that many trails east of the town was hard to pass and gave a low amount of experiences due to heavy forestry. But a few areas contained very high nature and culture experiences instead. Some passages through town gave good experiences but passages through industrial areas was also needed. Areas with good experiences was found south and southwest of the town.   A proposal of a 35 kilometre trail connecting the 5 nature reserves was made, outruling some of the studied areas, but still having areas with good experiences. Passability studies showed that it was mostly easy to walk. Areas southwest of Alingsås was recommended for a shorter trail.

The role of citizens working with urban nature in making cities more resilient is under-explored and under-theorised. The social-ecological system (SES) is an appropriate concept to explore these interactions but challenges in applying it to cities have been identified. It has been suggested that there is a need to strengthen the 'social' in the SES. This thesis develops a conceptual framework that splits the social component of the SES into culture and agency and operationalises it through the concept of landscape. Previous scholarship has demonstrated that landscape is a powerful force in how people think about the world and that citizens are increasingly active in transforming urban landscapes. Using a critical realist framework, the SES is approached as an underlying mechanism that can only be apprehended through the landscapes that it produces. This directs attention to people’s experience of and responses to landscape. Three ‘layers’ of landscape are elucidated: the material landscape, the cultural landscape and responses to the landscape, drawing on the disciplines of landscape ecology, cultural geography and others concerned with environmental perception and people-environment interactions. The research surveyed citizen interaction with landscapes across North West England before focusing in on two key case studies in the city of Manchester. This analysis gave rise to development of a new concept, the Inviting Landscape, to describe landscapes that invite citizens to engage with them in ways that enhance the resilience of the underlying SES. The thesis identifies characteristics of Inviting Landscapes and links them to three stages of citizen engagement with landscapes. Potential practical applications of this characterisation of landscapes are discussed. Intellectually, the SES approach is enhanced through a deeper understanding of positive feedback mechanisms whereby landscapes influence citizen-nature interactions, which in turn impact on social-ecological resilience. The thesis concludes by making the case that attending more carefully to the role of culture and agency can strengthen the applicability of the SES approach to cities.

The modern day mechanical integration and organisation of cities have disturbed the natural systems and sequences of the environment, as well as the social fabric and collective notions of society within cities (Mumford, 1938:17). Man's progressive "liberation" from the natural environment has desensitised him to nature (Crowe, 1995:233) creating an artifi cial realm where man is removed from nature. Pretoria's establishment was greatly infl uenced by its landscape - aptly called "the valley between the ridges and the rivers" (Dippenaar, 2013:6). Urban modernisation and infrastructure development have however progressively disregarded the river and the landscape within the city, consequently detaching the city from these natural elements, which resulted in the loss of their signifi cance. As one of the last remaining underdeveloped sites in the inner city of Pretoria, Berea Park represents a continuation of the landscape and the Apies River channel into the city. Situated at the southern gateway of the city, Berea Park was Pretoria's fi rst offi cial recreational, social and cultural venue, hosting numerous sport, outdoor and other events. Unfortunately Berea Park is currently in a derelict and idle state. Infrastructural developments have gradually disconnected the site from the surrounding city fabric and community. The isolated and forgotten park, has like the river, tragically lost its essential signifi cance. The divide between the city fabric, the Apies River channel and the Berea Park landscape presents the opportunity to explore architecture's role in re-integrating and connecting experiences of "nature" into the city to enhance the quality of urban life. This dissertation explores architecture and the hybrid typology of "building as a landscape", as a means to create a new topography and interface between the Berea Park landscape, river channel and the city. The concept of a hybrid architecture that merges the typologies of urban park, landscape, infrastructure, public amenity and building is explored with the intention to develop a new typology that can respond to the contextual challenges. The building becomes an extension of the park, and the park becomes an extension of the building. The new interface, proposed programme and activities are aimed at linking the city, its inhabitants, communities, the landscape and the river. / Die hedendaagse meganiese integrasie en organisasie van stede het die natuurlike sisteme en ritmes van die omgewing, asook die sosiale strukture en kollektiewe opvattings van gemeenskappe in stede versteur (Mumford, 1038:17). Die mens se progressiewe "bevryding" van die natuurlike omgewing het gelei tot 'n skeiding tussen die mens en die natuur (Crowe, 2013:6), wat der volglik ? kunsmatige domein waarbinne die mensdom uit die natuurverwyder is, geskep het. Die totstandkoming van Pretoria was grootliks be?nvloed deur sy natuurlike landskap - met die gepaste benaming van " 'n vallei gele? tussen rante en riviere" (Dippenaar, 2013:6). Met stedelike modernisering en infrastruktuur ontwikkeling is daar stelselmatig minder ag geslaan op die rivier en die omliggende stadslandskap, wat daartoe gelei het dat die stad van die natuurlike omgewing afgesonder geraak het en uiteindelik het dit die verlies van die essensi?le betekenis en waarde van die natuurelemente veroorsaak. Berea Park, een van die laaste oorblywende onderontwikkelde terreine in die sentrale stadsgebied van Pretoria, is gele? aan die suidelike ingang van die stad en verteenwoordig 'n verlenging van die landskap en die Apiesrivierkanaal na die stad. Di? terrein was Pretoria se eerste amptelike ontspannings-, sosiale en kulturele byeenkomsplek, wat sport-, buitelugen ander byeenkomste aangebied het. Ongelukking is Bera Park tans 'n verlate, verwaarloosde en onbenutte area. Infrastruktuur ontwikkeling van di? gebied het geleidelik die terrein afgesonder van die omliggende stad en gemeenskap. Die ge?soleerde en vergete park het, soos die rivier, tragies geen betekenis of nut meer nie. Die skeiding tussen die stedelike bouomgewing, die Apiesrivierkanaal en die landskap van Berea Park bied die geleentheid om argitektuur se rol met betrekking tot die herintegrering en verbinding van die "natuur" met die stad te ondersoek derhalwe die gehalte van 'n stedelike lewenswyse te verhoog. Die skripsie ondersoek argitektuur en die hibriede tipologie van 'n gebou as 'n landskap, wat deur die fasilitering van 'n nuwe topografi e 'n interaktiewe verbinding tussen die landskap van Berea Park, die rivierkanaal en die stad tot stand kan bring. Hibriede-argitektuur is 'n konsep wat die samesmelting van die tipologie? van stedelike park, landskap, infrastruktuur, openbare fasiliteit en gebou ondersoek met die doel om 'n nuwe tipologie te ontwikkel wat kontekstuele uitdagings kan aanspreek. Die gebou word 'n uitbreiding van die park en die park word 'n uitbreiding van die gebou. Die doelwit van die gebou as nuwe interaktiewe verbinding en die voorgestelde program en aktiwiteite, is om die stad se inwoners, gemeenskappe, die landskap en die rivier te herverbind. / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

The transformation of cities is a challenge of global significance that will depend on the capacity to re-imagine the potential of cities, and thus needs more than standard technocratic urban planning approaches. Deep engagement with the arts provides one avenue for recasting the future of cities. This thesis explores the question of how ‘critical urban art interventions’ develop alternative ways of knowing urban nature, and the opportunities and limitations of using art to reimagine the future of cities. By drawing on urban political ecology and cultural geography, the thesis documents and explores the aims and tactics used in five urban art interventions to reimagine sites of urban nature in Stockholm. Qualitative interviews and participant observation were carried to explore these questions. Findings suggest that tactics used in urban art interventions promote embodied ways of knowing, and simultaneously interacting with the physical and socio- historical constructions of sites of urban natures.

No description available.

Cities continue to grow, and the rapid population growth, and overcrowding are increasing the pressure on local governments to provide basic services (e.g., housing, clean water, sanitation, basic health services, and education) and green space planning. Climate change and the human impact on the environment are putting even more pressure on urban areas and their corresponding government. Green infrastructure is a nature-based solution that uses vegetation to address both the challenge of urban sprawl and threats caused by climate change. Thus, this thesis explores the potential of how the city of La Paz can integrate green infrastructure solutions to respond to the four priority areas (flooding, water scarcity, landslide, and urban heatwaves) of the city-region’s strategic planning outlook, Plan 2040. The Plan 2040 is the first strategic municipal developing plan for land use planning in Bolivia. To carry out this investigation the author undertook several interviews, to find if there are any implications on gender during green infrastructure implementation. The thesis is based on a case study qualitative approach and the research method draws on literature review, desk study and eight interviews. It was concluded that green infrastructure with reforestation and afforestation responds positively to the four priority areas. Additionally, green infrastructure has different configurations to develop a resilient community at several scales from school grounds or a row of trees to open park space or planting rain gardens. Moreover, poorly designed green landscaping can increase the fear of crime. Thus, a greater understanding is needed about which types of green infrastructure measures are effective in increasing urban resilience in La Paz, and how these measures can be better designed, implemented, and maintained without causing the perception of fear of harassment or crime. Finally, it was concluded that Plan 2040 will be strengthened if it was to consider and incorporate the following: 1) non-invasive plant species; 2) financing for implementation; 3) a study that determines the sustainable development areas for urban greening; 4) its maintenance, and care measures; 5) coordination between the functional and operational unit of the municipality (environmentalists, urban planners, and gender specialists); 6) and how green infrastructure planning, design and implementation could be more gender sensitive. / I detta dokument diskuteras argumenten till förmån för urban grön infrastruktur för en plan för anpassning till klimatförändringar för kommunen La Paz, Bolivia. Grön infrastruktur är en naturbaserad lösning som använder vegetation för att skapa ett hållbart samhälle och lösa samhällsutmaningar som utsläppsminskningar, klimatanpassning och förbättrad hälsa. Grön infrastruktur i städer kan definieras som naturlig infrastruktur, såsom gatuträd, gräsmattor, parker, stadsskogar, odlad mark och våtmarker; som förenar grönområden och öppna ytor inom och utanför staden genom att bilda ett grönt stadsnät. Dessa nätverk tillhandahåller ekosystemtjänster som bidrar till att upprätthålla och utveckla den biologiska mångfalden, skapar renare luft och vatten, förebygger översvämningar, reducerar buller, tar hand om dagvatten, stärker grundvattenbildningen, kyler städerna, renar avlopp samt möjliggör rekreations- och kulturvärden.  Därför undersöker denna avhandling potentialen i hur staden La Paz kan integrera gröna infrastrukturlösningar för att svara på fyra huvudhot: översvämningar, vattenresursbrist, jordskred och extrema händelser på grund av höga temperaturer inom den strategiska planeringen av La Paz, plan 2040. Plan 2040 är den första kommunala strategiska utvecklingsplanen för markanvändningsplanering i Bolivia. I enlighet med detta är kapitlet efter introduktionen inriktat på den konceptuella översynen av grön infrastruktur och beskrivningen av några av dess viktigaste egenskaper och de fördelar det medför. Det poängterar också vikten av att bygga mer socialt inkluderande städer och nämner vissa utmaningar och behov för alla människor (män och kvinnor). För att genomföra denna forskning genomförde författaren flera intervjuer för att ta reda på om det finns någon implikation gällande könstillhörighet under genomförandet av grön infrastruktur.  Avhandlingen bygger på ett kvalitativt förhållningssätt och forskningsmetoden bygger på litteraturgenomgång, skrivbordsarbete (eftersom det på grund av pandemin inte var möjligt att besöka La Paz) och åtta intervjuer. Slutsatsen drogs att grön infrastruktur med återbeskogning och beskogning bidrar positivt i bekämpningen av de fyra största hoten. Begreppet grön infrastruktur är nytt på regeringens dagordningar, och även om det inte har någon homogen konceptuell ram, finns det vissa principer som gör grön infrastruktur viktigt att inkludera i stadsutvecklingsplaneringen. Det behövs dock en större förståelse för vilka typer av gröna infrastrukturåtgärder som är effektiva för att öka motståndskraften i La Paz och hur dessa åtgärder bör utformas och genomföras. Slutligen kunde utredningen påvisa att Plan 2040 skulle förbättras om den gröna infrastrukturplanen skulle inkludera följande: 1) icke -invasiva främmande arter av växter i stadsmiljön; 2) en plan för finansiering av genomförande; 3) en studie som fastställer hållbara och gröna utvecklingsområden; 4) en plan för drift- och underhåll; 5) stärkt samordning mellan kommunens funktionella och operativa enheter (miljöaktivister och stadsplanerare); och 6) eventuella konsekvenser av grön infrastruktur för att förebygga brott och fostra positiva sociala interaktioner. / Actualmente las ciudades de Bolivia enfrentan un amplio espectro de desafíos para poder ser efectivamente sustentables. Las ciudades se entienden como sustentables cuando identifican y visibilizan las conexiones y dinámicas rurales-urbanas de forma integral, incluidos los ecosistemas y los sistemas agropecuarios; adoptan métodos eficientes de uso de energía y recursos; mitigan la contaminación de cuerpos de agua, suelo y atmósfera; reconocen las capacidades de regeneración sustentación y las limitaciones de los sistemas naturales en los que se basan; priorizan la conservación y generación de áreas verdes, biodiversas para mejorar la infiltración de agua, reducción de escorrentía, promover evapotranspiración y protección de fuentes de agua; y valoran las funciones de los ecosistemas por el papel que desempeñan en la salud urbana, la protección ambiental, el paisaje y la habitabilidad.  Entre los principales desafíos para la sustentabilidad de las ciudades del país, destacan la reducción de la contaminación del aire, agua, suelo y visual, degradación de lagunas y ríos urbanos, pérdida de calidad y cantidad de agua en acuíferos, el ruido, islas de calor, escasas áreas verdes multifuncionales y conectadas. El crecimiento de las manchas urbanas no planificadas reduce cada vez más a las tierras agropecuarias, expulsándolas cada vez más lejos. Impactando también de forma alarmante a la pérdida de cobertura vegetal, degradación de suelos, ocupación y avasallamiento de bosques, zonas de alto valor ecológico y áreas protegidas aledañas a las ciudades.  El trabajo discute los argumentos a favor de la infraestructura verde urbana para un plan de adaptación al cambio climático para el municipio de La Paz en Bolivia. La infraestructura verde es una solución basada en la naturaleza que utiliza la vegetación para la conservación de la biodiversidad, adaptación al cambio climático, como posible solución a disminución de inundaciones, control de escorrentías y manejo de drenajes, aumento y mejoramiento de espacios verdes.  Por lo tanto, esta tesis investiga el potencial de cómo la ciudad de La Paz puede integrar soluciones de infraestructura verde para responder a cuatro amenazas principales: inundaciones, escasez de recurso hídrico, deslizamiento y eventos extremos por altas temperaturas para la planificación estratégica de La Paz. Para lo cual se revisó el Plan 2040 que es el plan estratégico municipal de ordenamiento territorial de La Paz.  En concordancia con ello, el capítulo después de la introducción se enfoca a la revisión conceptual de la infraestructura verde y descripción de algunas de sus principales características y los beneficios que aporta. También se plantea la importancia de construir ciudades más inclusivas, y menciona algunos desafíos y necesidades de todas las personas (hombres y mujeres).  Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, la autora realizó varias entrevistas, para averiguar si hay alguna implicación sobre el género durante la implementación de la infraestructura verde. La tesis se basa en un enfoque cualitativo y el método de investigación se basa en la revisión de la literatura, trabajo de escritorio (ya que por la pandemia visitar La paz no fue posible) y entrevistas.  Se concluyó que la infraestructura verde con reforestación y forestación responde positivamente a las cuatro amenazas principales. El concepto de infraestructura verde es de reciente aparición en las agendas gubernamentales y aunque no cuenta con un marco conceptual homogéneo, prevalecen algunos principios que lo convierten en un hito para la planeación del desarrollo urbano. Por lo tanto, se necesita una mayor comprensión sobre qué tipos de medidas de infraestructura verde son efectivas para aumentar la resiliencia urbana en La Paz, y cómo estas medidas podrían diseñarse, implementarse y mantenerse sin causar la percepción de miedo al acoso o al crimen en las mujeres. Finalmente, se concluyó que el Plan 2040 se fortalecerá si se considera e incorpora lo siguiente: 1) especies de plantas nativas y/o plantas no invasivas; 2) financiación para la ejecución; 3) un estudio que determine las áreas de desarrollo sostenible para enverdecimiento urbano; 4) su mantenimiento y medidas de cuidado; 5) coordinación entre la unidad funcional y operativa del municipio (ambientalistas, urbanistas y especialistas en género); 6) y cualquier implicación de la infraestructura verde para la equidad de género.

This dissertation examines the literary archives of three Ontario cities – Windsor, Hamilton, and Toronto – to discover and enfold urban nature in our everyday lives. Beginning with a refusal to accept the popular notion that there is no nature in the city or that the city is separate from the natural world, I seek to engage with writers in these three cities to find representations of and engagements with the natural world in an urban setting. In the light of a growing environmental crisis marked by fossil fuel shortages, climate change, biodiversity decline, and habitat loss, this project is an attempt to craft a meaningful response from an ecocritical perspective. Central to this response are two key contentions: one, that the natural world is in the city, but we need to find ways to recognize it there; and, two, that the most efficacious and ethical way to respond to environmental crisis is to make this urban nature a part of our everyday lives by fostering attachments to it and protecting it, or, to put it differently, enfolding it into our human lives. Using literature, my project shows how the natural world is present in three Ontario cities and how writers like Di Brandt, John Terpstra, Phyllis Brett Young, and others are already including urban nature in their work. This work also addresses significant gaps in Canadian literary discourse which has tended to focus on wilderness or rural spaces and in ecocritical discourse which has also tended to eschew urban locations. This project adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to read a wide range of texts including fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, educational material, scientific publications, and others in order to encourage readers and citizens of Windsor, Hamilton, and Toronto to discover and enfold the urban nature present in those cities. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This exploratory research project explores the production and use, and subsequent closure and eviction of the community-designed and managed Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford – a predominantly working-class area in south-east London. This community garden played a key role in the lives of many local residents and its closure and subsequent demolition to make way for a large housing project drew a significant backlash from local residents which included protests, law-suits, and the occupation of the garden itself. Why this small, half-acre community garden garnered such a notable response is the main focus of and motivation for this research project. Using a combined-methods approach consisting of semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this research investigates what it was about Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden which resulted in this backlash, and why the local council’s decision to close it drew such a militant revolt from local community members. Combining the empirical results of this research with a deep inquiry into the concepts of space and power within urban theory, this thesis seeks to understand the rights working-class communities have to contribute to the production of public green space, and how such community-led contribution can impact on the space produced, both inside and outside the context of Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden and its former users.

Malmö stad ökar snabbt i population och planerar därför att fortsätta den pågående tätbebyggelsen innanför Yttre Ringvägen för att tillgodose boende och arbetstillfällen. Planeringen skapar en osäker framtid för grönytor i Malmö som redan idag har ett av Sveriges lägsta grönyta per capita. Att ha tillgång till kvalitativa grönområden omfattas bland annat av Globala målen. Stadsrum av grönska är många människors vanligaste interaktioner med naturen och är därför viktiga för människans naturkontakt. Studien undersöker arbetet med och åsikter kring att införliva mer vild stadsnatur för syftet att förbättra kvaliteten på Malmös natur i form av biologisk mångfald för att vild stadsnatur ska bidra till en ökad naturkontakt i staden. Arbetet med och åsikter om vild stadsnatur undersöktes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med invånare och stadsutvecklare i Malmö. Studien presenterar fyra teman som uppkommit vid intervjuerna om vild stadsnatur samt om möjligheten att knyta an till naturen i staden: naturkontakt, miljörättvisa, risk samt människans ambivalens gentemot naturen. Resultaten visar att konflikterna kring hur en stadsnatur får se ut samt huruvida en vild stadsnatur är farlig eller inte präglar diskussionen kring hur vi kan skapa en hållbar stadsutveckling om naturen inte får ta plats. Vidare visar diskussionen att man borde utöka arbetet inom stadsplanering med att främja naturkontakt för att den kan leda till miljövänligt beteende som främjar en hållbar stadsutveckling. Kunskapsförmedling om fördelar med vild stadsnatur bör även kommuniceras vidare till invånare för att öka en förståelse och acceptans till vild stadsnatur. / The city of Malmö is rapidly increasing in population and therefore plans to continue the ongoing dense development within the Yttre Ringvägen to accommodate housing and work opportunities. This development creates an uncertain future for green areas in Malmö, which already today has one of Sweden's lowest green areas per capita. Having access to qualitative green areas is covered by the Global Goals, among other things. Urban spaces of greenery are many people's most frequent interactions with nature and are therefore important for people's nature connectedness. The study examines the work with, and opinions about, incorporating more wild urban nature for the purpose of improving the quality of Malmö's nature in the form of biological diversity so that wild urban nature will contribute to increased nature connectedness in the city. The work with and opinions about wild urban nature were investigated through semi-structured interviews with residents and urban developers in Malmö. The study presents four themes that arose during the interviews about wild urban nature and the possibility of connecting with nature in the city: nature connectedness, environmental justice, risk and human ambivalence towards nature. The results show that the conflicts around what an urban nature is allowed to look like and whether a wild urban nature is dangerous or not characterize the discussion about how we can create sustainable urban development if nature is not allowed to take its place. Furthermore, the discussion shows that one should expand the work in urban planning to promote nature connectedness because it can lead to environmentally friendly behavior that promotes sustainable urban development. Knowledge transfer about the benefits of wild urban nature should also be communicated to residents to increase understanding and acceptance of wild urban nature.

In the United States, the foundational myths of Nature are wilderness and pastoral arcadia. This dissertation examines a different kind of nature that emerges as habitats in urban wastelands and margins. This cosmopolitan community is a hybrid nature that is the unintended product of human activity and nature's unflagging opportunism, which I call marginal nature. Marginal nature is neither pristine nor pastoral, but rather a nature whose ecological and cultural significance requires a reassessment of our narratives of nature. The wastelands are unique sounding boards for measuring perceptions of nature, since these places provoke ambiguous responses of attraction and repulsion. I explore perceptions of wasteland habitat from the perspectives of urban space, urban ecology, and literature about urban nature. The primary methodology of this dissertation is hermeneutical inquiry which reveals the layers of environmental discourse concealing marginal nature beneath language that asks it to be something that it is not. This environmental hermeneutics focuses on key issues of the geography of nature: nonhuman agency, place, and nature/society hybrids. I argue that comprehending the lifeworld of the wastelands requires a reassessment of the concept of place as a coproduction of humans and nonhumans, that is, an ecology of place. / text