Social Landscapes

Nowadays, “the urban becomes a space of multiple possibilities driven not just by the logic of capital but emerging from a series of socio-ecological, technological, and ideological entanglements” (Gandy 2018). Admitting that humans are an inseparable part of urban nature and recognizing city natural landscape as a social construct allows the researcher to reach a deeper understanding and establish viable ecological politics in urban context, as well as respond to the transformation, which, according to Cindi Katz (2005), nature underwent in the 20th century, becoming a subject to reproduction, commodification and fetishization.

To explore these ideas, Ahmad Tahir analyzes language as a form of perception, molding human relationships with space through his research of the term “wastelands” across various cultures with a detailed focus on the three languages of Pakistan. Marina Pushkar takes a closer look into genealogy of landscape assessing intimate connections that locals develop to their neighborhood in the case study of the urban regeneration project Insects' Highway in Tallinn, Estonia. Finally, Anna Pederzini, adopting a historical perspective, proposes an alternative future for the abandoned industrial wasteland site in Rovereto, Italy.

​