Page 16 - XITE Magazine 2019

Annual Magazine In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the cities went through urbanization and very less space

Dr. Namrata Pandey
Assistant Professor, XITE

Urban Wilderness

was left for living things. Many social workers and groups fought for green areas in urban land. The
resulting parks and lawns were formalized and organized systematically but were few in areas and
far from natural feelings. To bring this natural feeling of mother earth in cities, some organizations
started planting trees, bushes, plants, flowers etc. in an unorganized way in urban areas. This
tradition became viral and many groups joined this movement.
The inclusion of this biodiversity in urban neighborhoods is popularly known as Urban Wilderness....
The main features of urban wilderness that dierentiate it from gardens and other forms of
plantings are:
Biodiversity –
• Urban Wilderness includes a wide range of species, of both plants and animals

• Low maintenance for survival – Trees or plants that can survive without frequent watering and
which can withstand local pollution levels. Also, the trees planted, do not depend on fertilizers or
other periodic maintenance.

• Deep beds - Deep soil bed is used since it allows the growth of mature root, protects from drought
and harmful temperature changes. Also, deep beds favor the development of microorganisms
and other beneficial small life forms.
• Unorganized pattern – The trees and plants are allowed to grow in their natural way with no
dedicated space for walkway or human activities. Whereas in gardens or lawns, the pattern is
organized and space is left for human activities like paved walkways, trimmed grass, or other
artificial environments
• Tolerance of groundcover and thick undergrowth - healthy ecosystems depend on
microenvironments like decaying logs, thick brush, and muddy ground. This is taken care in
Urban wilderness
Summarizing, Urban Wilderness is gaining popularity in western continents but the concept is still
feebly known in developing countries like India. With sharp increase in urbanization of cities in
developing countries, this concept will become the need of society and will be adopted by all.

14 Volume-VII, 2019 Yes, your transformation will be hard. Yes, you will feel frightened, messed up and knocked down.
Yes you'll want to stop. Yes, its the best work you'll ever do. - Robin Sharma