Ecological value of abandoned wild landscapes in Chinese cities

Abstract

This paper is focused on urban industrial abandoned wild landscapes which have experienced structural changes, and where abandonment triggered a natural vegetation succession process, as well as fauna’s progressive reoccupation. Due to such natural regeneration, abandoned wild landscapes have high biodiversity and ecological value and have been gaining attention from the scientific and planning communities. In the Chinese context, abandoned wild landscapes are frequently contested and subsumed into various utilitarian discourses regarding redevelopment or erasure, leading to an underestimation of their ecological value in urban contexts. Through reviewing academic literature, this paper explores abandoned wild landscapes in terms of the ecological value they encompass and related benefits for both sustainable urban development and ecological pressure. Moreover, this study also presents an overview of the causes of abandoned wild landscapes in different world contexts and analyses their controversy in China. The paper concludes by advocating that abandoned wild landscapes do have ecological values worthy of further understanding and appreciation, due to their potentially vital role in the ecosystems of contemporary Chinese cities.