Chapter 1 of 24
Nature Takes Over Derelict Land
This is a range from Holland, the UK and then finally the USA, just to point out the significant approach that landscape design has to offer late 20th century societies. The first one is in Delft, in Holland, which Allan Ruff in the University of Manchester used as the basis for his book "Holland & the ecological experiment". This shows the very straightforward approach of leaving land semi-derelict alter the builders had moved oil" and allowing the natural elements to bring in seeds, bird-droppings, wind-blown seeds and so on. The result is an astonishing verdure which, being very close to high density welfare blocks of flats in Holland, was seen as an extremely economic way of providing a good green setting untrammelled by any of the influences of traditional landscape thinking. As you can see, it is very rough indeed but it's full of bird life, insect life, and it gives an enormous amount of pleasure to the local population. However, it has, in recent years, grown into such a jungle, that very slight modifications to the access and clearings for picnics have been made so that it too becomes more usable, as babies and toddlers turn into teenagers.