Městská divočina: Dystopie a heterotopie v současném města

Abstract

This text deals with possible ways ofconceptualizing the phenomenon of urban wilderness.Urban wilderness refers to a wasteland ina contemporary city which has lost its original useand function, and which is slowly acquiring thecharacter of nature. One possible explanation forthe prevailing negative perception and representationof these places is that their existence is blurringthe distinction between nature and culture.This distinction is said to be an important structuringelement in the Western system of thinking.It is also thought that urban wilderness disturbsthe order of the modern city and its tendency tostructure and separate the functions of space. Inthis text, i am concerned with two possible waysof reflecting this ambivalent character of urbanwilderness. My paper is based on theoretical workdescribing urban wilderness as dystopia, a symbolof the end of modernity, or as heterotopia, an oppositionto the order of the modern city. In the lastpart of the text, i reflect the main points in the critiqueof this conceptualization.

Keywords

• urban wilderness
• wildscapes
• heterotopia
• dystopia
• modern city
• late-modern city
• nature-culture