Urban Natures : Living the More-than-Human City

Efforts to create greener urban spaces have historically taken many forms, often disorganized and undisciplined. Recently, however, the push towards greener cities has evolved into a more cohesive movement. Drawing from multidisciplinary case studies, __Urban Natures__ examines the possibilities of an ethical lively multi-species city with the understanding that humanity’s relationship to nature is politically constructed. Covering a wide range of sectors, cities, and urban spaces, as well as topics ranging from edible cities to issues of power, and more-than-human methodologies, this volume pushes our imagination of a green urban future. Contents List of Illustrations, Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction. Mapping the More-than-Human City in Theory, Methods and Practice Part I. Making Visible Diverse Urban Natures Chapter 1. Life After Dark: Multispecies Encounters in the Nocturnal City Chapter 2. Making Urban Natures Visible (with a Focus on Insects) Chapter 3. Let the City Walls Go Wild: Finding Safety in Urban Edgelands Chapter 4. A Bear and Those Things Beneath My Knees: Nature in Settler-Colonial Los Angeles Chapter 5. East End Jam: A Multisensory Urban Foraging Artwork Chapter 6. Illuminating the Worlds We Produce: A Refl exive Approach to Urban Natures Research Part II. (Re)Connecting Urban Natures Illustration Chapter 7. Layering Identity, Place and Belonging between Nature and Urbanity Chapter 8. A ‘Democracy of Compost’: Neo-materialist Encounters in Urban Spaces Chapter 9. Caring for Foxes at a London Allotment: Tales from a Contested Interspecies Playground Chapter 10. Relational Growing: Reimagining Contemporary Aboriginal Agriculture in Colonialized Cityscapes Chapter 11. ‘War on Weeds’: On Fighting and Caring for Native Nature in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand Chapter 12. Designing with Bees: Integrating More-than-Human Knowledges in Brussels’ Cityscapes Part III. Politicizing Urban Natures Chapter 13. Reducing Vulnerability through Gardening? The Mobilization of Urban Natures during the COVID-19 Pandemic Chapter 14. ‘I Don’t Care about Tomatoes’: Building Situated Urban Commons in Girona Chapter 15. Urban Fog Oasis Conservation: Endangerment, Invasiones and Informal Urbanization in Lima Chapter 16. Haunting Natures: The Politics of Green Reparations in Baltimore, MD Chapter 17. Urban Trees as ‘Furniture’? The More-than-Human Politics of Moving Gothenburg’s Mature Trees Chapter 18. ‘There’s a Strong, Green Wind Blowing’: Drawing the Politics of Street Trees in Practice Conclusion. Reflections and Future Directions for Researching Urban Natures Glossary of Key Terms Index