Involuntary park

Involuntary park is a neologism coined by science fiction author and environmentalist Bruce Sterling to describe previously inhabited areas that for environmental, economic, or political reasons have, in Sterling's words, "lost their value for technological instrumentalism" and been allowed to return to an overgrown, feral state.

Mule deer at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. (photo 2009)

Origin of the term

Discussing involuntary parks in the context of rising sea levels due to global warming, Sterling writes:

They bear some small resemblance to the twentieth century's national parks, those government-owned areas nervously guarded by well-indoctrinated forest rangers in formal charge of Our Natural Heritage©. They are, for instance, very green, and probably full of wild animals. But the species mix is no longer natural. They are mostly fast-growing weeds, a cosmopolitan jungle of kudzu and bamboo, with, perhaps, many genetically altered species that can deal with seeping saltwater. Drowned cities that cannot be demolished for scrap will vanish wholesale into the unnatural overgrowth.

Bruce Sterling, "The World is Becoming Uninsurable, Part 3"[1]

While Sterling's original vision of an involuntary park was of places abandoned due to collapse of economy or rising sea-level, the term has come to be used on any land where human inhabitation or use for one reason or other has been stopped, including military exclusion zones, minefields and areas considered dangerous due to pollution.[2][3][4]

Existing examples

Vegetation reclaiming houses in the zone of alienation around Chernobyl.

Abandoned human settlements and developments overtaken by foliage and wild animals are known to exist in numerous locations around the world. Ghost towns, disused railways, mines, and airfields, or areas experiencing urban decay or deindustrialization may be subject to a resurgence in ecological proliferation as human presence is reduced.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has seen the return of previously extirpated indigenous species such as boars, wolves, and bears, as well as a thriving herd of re-introduced Przewalski's Horses.[5] While wildlife flourishes in the least affected areas, tumors, infertility and lower brain weight are reported in many small animals (including mice and birds) living in areas subject to severe contamination.[6]

The former Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver was abandoned for years due to contamination from production of chemical weapons, yet the wildlife returned and the site was eventually turned into a wildlife refugium.[7]

Involuntary parks where human presence is severely limited can host animal species that are otherwise extremely threatened in their range. The Korean Demilitarized Zone is thought to house not only Korean tigers, but also the critically endangered Amur leopard.[8]

While the above examples may be considered involuntary parks, Sterling's dystopian vision of an "unnatural" ecology has yet to be observed. In most observed cases, existing involuntary parks are characterized by a restoration of the pre-human ecological order, as opposed to the novel environment theorized by Sterling.

When an involuntary park develops in an urban or formerly urban location, it may become the target of urban exploration.

Further examples include:

See also

Notes

  1. Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 98 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 113 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

References

  1. Bruce Sterling, "The World is Becoming Uninsurable, Part 3" (Viridian Note 23)
  2. Duke, Steven (18 June 2009). "Sheep rule defunct Cyprus village". BBC News.
  3. Cascio, J. (2005): The Green Ribbon Archived 2010-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, from Worldchanging
  4. For an example of the term used with land-mines, see Landmines and Involuntary parks Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation, by Stefen Mulvey, BBC News
  6. Gunter, L.P. (26 April 2016). "Blind mice and bird brains: the silent spring of Chernobyl and Fukushima". The Ecologist. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  7. "Rocky Mountain Arsenal". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  8. "Korea's DMZ: The thin green line". CNN. 2003-08-22. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  9. "Red Zone road changes". Christchurch City Council. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08.
  10. Nieves, Evelyn (April 4, 2018). "The 'Endless War' of Land Mines in the Balkans" via NYTimes.com.
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