Page 35 - XITE Magazine 2019

Xavier Chimes
Gourav Kumar Sahu
BCA-III

Between Fascination And Fear- The Impact

Of Urban Wilderness On Human Health And Wellbeing

Introduction:- By far most of us living in industrialized countries call cities and towns our home ; with
continuing urbanization, there has been increasing attention for the quality of life in our urban
environments. In their eorts to develop better, more livable cities, decision makers and planners
have to deal with a wide range of pertinent challenges, such as climate change and shifts in
demographics.
Defining Wilderness:-Most of the green spaces in a city, if not all, can be regarded cultural
landscapes, embodying some form of integration between the human and cultural with the natural.
This seemingly contrasts with the notion of “Urban Wilderness” is mostly seen as embodying a
dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural with wilderness then being
defined as those natural areas untouched by human.
Urban Wilderness, health and wellbeing:-literature on wilderness health relations is not abundant,
but some interesting mostly explorative and qualitative work has been done. Studies have often
focused on the relations between our mental health and urban wilderness, demonstrating that
wilderness and other types of nature and green space are really dierent in terms of, psychological
and restoration eects.
Consequences for urban planning:-In spite of the negative impacts that wilderness areas may have
on our health and wellbeing, evidence suggests that the positive eects very well could outweigh
these. We need wilderness areas as 'space', for transcendent and restorative experiences, for
personal development and play, as a refuge and antidote to the hustle and bustle of city life.
Much more research is needed to explore the wilderness – health relations, where especially the
dierent mechanisms that cause the impacts are studied. Moreover, when developing urban
wilderness areas, it is important to realise that people are dierent, also in how to perceive and
appreciate wilderness.
“Will the Urban sprawl spread so far that most people lose all touch with nature? Will the day come
when the only 'bird' a typical American child ever sees is a canary in a pet shop window? When the
only wild animal he knows is a rat-glimpsed on a night drive through some city slum?”
Source-Frank N-Ikard

"Real difculties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones 33 Volume-VII, 2019
that are unconquerable." - Theodore N. Vail