Description

An eye-opening and urgent re-examination of nature in our cities, from the Sunday Times bestselling winner of the Somerset Maugham Award

‘Novel and provocative’
THE TIMES

‘Awe-inspiring’
ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding

Our modern-day cities might seem to represent our separation from the natural world. In fact, as Ben Wilson reveals in this captivating re-examination of urban landscapes around the world, nature has always been at the heart of the city.

Urban Jungle explores the wild side of cities past, present and future: the middens, abandoned sites and strips of land alongside railway lines. For much of history, wild patches in cities were essential for city-dwellers and the dividing line between city and countryside was blurred. Even our post-industrial cities are much wilder that we imagine – if we know where to look. On today’s urbanised planet, natural forces – be they floods, storms, droughts or pandemics – look set to determine the future. In a time of climate crisis, cities that once built walls and towers to defend against attack now have to become greener to protect themselves from external threats.

Our future – and that of the planet – will be made in the city. Only by looking deep into the past, examining the present and casting an eye to the future can we really begin to understand the bountiful potential and wonder of our extraordinary urban ecosystems.

Publisher Review

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, A Plastic Planet Capacious, entertaining and rich in wondrous detail, this is a work of history that pulls off the startling feat of measuring up to the immensity of its subject matter. -- Tom Holland, praise for METROPOLIS A fascinating look at the highs and lows of inner-city living, from skyscrapers to slums. * BBC History Magazine, praise for METROPOLIS * Wilson [is] an erudite, creative guide to the history of civilization through its great urban areas... He broadens the book's focus beyond the usual Western suspects... An excellent account. * Time Magazine, praise for METROPOLIS * Compendious and fascinating... Metropolis is crammed with local colour; and what gives the historical schema its real flavour is the deviations it allows. * Daily Telegraph, praise for METROPOLIS * Brilliant... Enchanting... This is a history of the world told through its most buccaneering units.' * Evening Standard, praise for METROPOLIS *