Where Earth Ends: Rediscovering and reimagining Scotland’s urban green spaces
Various sustainable landscape approaches, such as edible gardens and wildflower meadows, are gaining traction, yet biodiversity conflicts—stemming from differing expectations of landscapes—remain a significant barrier to their full realisation. This conflict is evident in debates ranging from pigeon spikes to the tension between manicured and messy gardens. Resolving these differences is crucial for transforming the human-nature relationship.
Benjamin Ong, a PhD student in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development and member of the Radical Urban Lab, was awarded a Scotland’s Future Series grant for his project titled Where Earth Ends: Rediscovering and Reimagining Scotland’s Urban Green Spaces.
The project seeks to spark new, ecologically regenerative visions of urban green spaces by exploring Scotland’s deeper past and drawing on place-based approaches. It integrates perspectives from history, literature, culture, and heritage to reimagine future green spaces.
Ong’s work raises important questions about how urban development can incorporate historical and cultural elements into contemporary landscapes and what “place-based” means in the context of Scotland’s growing cosmopolitan urban areas.
The project fosters interdisciplinary dialogue across geography, literature, history, and theology. In spring 2024, it featured an interactive soundscaped walk through St Andrews, in collaboration with local artists and community groups. Building on Ong’s previous creative and participatory work, the project offers a vision of ecologically regenerative spaces in an age of climate anxiety and emergency.