Table of Contents

Wild woodlands as a new component of urban forests.- Wild Urban Woodlands: Towards a Conceptual Framework.- New Perspectives for Urban Forests: Introducing Wild Woodlands.- Attitudes towards wild woodlands.- Attitudes towards Wilderness and Public Demands on Wilderness Areas.- Surrogate Nature or Wilderness? Social Perceptions and Notions of Nature in an Urban Context.- Nature for People: The Importance of Green Spaces to Communities in the East Midlands of England.- Living in the Urban Wildwoods: A Case Study of Birchwood, Warrington New Town, UK.- Use and Perception of Post-Industrial Urban Landscapes in the Ruhr.- People Working for Nature in the Urban Forest.- Ecological studies.- Nature Returns to Abandoned Industrial Land: Monitoring Succession in Urban-Industrial Woodlands in the German Ruhr.- Spontaneous Development of Peri-Urban Woodlands in Lignite Mining Areas of Eastern Germany.- Ecological Networks for Bird Species in the Wintering Season Based on Urban Woodlands.- Conceptual approaches and projects.- Nature Conservation, Forestry, Landscape Architecture and Historic Preservation: Perspectives for a Conceptual Alliance.- Approaches for Developing Urban Forests from the Cultural Context of Landscapes in Japan.- Strategies between Intervening and Leaving Room.- “New Wilderness” as an Element of the Peri-Urban Landscape.- Forests for Shrinking Cities? The Project “Industrial Forests of the Ruhr”.- Post-Industrial Nature in the Coal Mine of Göttelborn, Germany: The Integration of Ruderal Vegetation in the Conversion of a Brownfield.- Natur-Park Südgelände: Linking Conservation and Recreation in an Abandoned Railyard in Berlin.

Reviews

From the reviews:"This book is about the ‘new wilderness’ arising on abandoned urban-industrial areas through out the world. Some of these areas ... can be vast. A series of articles identifies the rise of urban woodlands, public attitudes towards them, the findings of ecological studies, and how different perspectives have been integrated into policy and management strategies. Case studies ... illustrate the conceptual and scientific approaches used to identify, study, and manage urban woodlands. Useful for urban foresters and planners." (Northeastern Naturalist, Vol. 13 (1), 2006)"The book successfully bring together the ecological, social, cultural/historical, and design issues and perspectives inherent in the topic of wild urban woodlands - a particular component of the urban forest matrix described as ‘new wilderness’. … And by providing vivid images and stories, as well as thoughtful integration and insights, it is a book that should prove itself interesting to both the casual reader and the topical scholar." (R. Riemann, Landscape Ecology, Vol. 22, February, 2007)“This attractively produced collection of papers emerged from a conference on ‘Wild forests in the City’ held in Dortmund, Germany in 2003. … addresses the values of forests that have regenerated spontaneously on abandoned industrial sites in Germany. … I like this book, it is well edited and comprehensively referenced – for anyone seeking an entry into the fascinating world of urban forests it will be useful. For those concerned with spontaneous woodland development in cities it provides a comprehensive and technically sound review.” (Jeffrey Sayer, International Forestry Review, Vol. 7 (3), September, 2005)