The Botanical City

by Matthew Gandy (Editor), Sandra Jasper (Editor)

Roadside "weeds" and other routinely overlooked aspects to urban
nature provide a fascinating glimpse into complex global ecologies and
new cultures of nature that are emerging across the world. This unique
essay collection explores the botanical dimensions to urban space
ranging from scientific efforts to understand the distinctive dynamics
of urban flora to the way that spontaneous vegetation has inspired
artists and writers.

The book comprises five thematic
histories and taxonomies; botanizing the asphalt; the art of urban
flora; experiments in non-design, and cartographic imaginations. The
essays explore developments in Berlin, London, Lahore and many other
cities, as well as more philosophical reflections on the meaning of
urban nature under the putative shift towards the Anthropocene.

Genres: Environment

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 20, 2020

About the author

Matthew Gandy is Professor of Geography at Cambridge University. His previous books include Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York City (2002) and The Fabric of Space: Water, Modernity, and the Urban Imagination (2014). You can find out more about Matthew via his website: http://www.matthewgandy.org/