Sunday Word: Edgelands

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

edgelands [ej-lændz]

noun:
the transitional zone of space created between rural and urban areas as formed by urbanisation
(Also termed 'bastard countryside' by Victor Hugo; and 'drosscape' by landscape theorist Alan Berger)

Examples:

In quest of lost rivers and Mithraic temples, ancient shrines and edgelands, abandoned rail lines and holy wells, he combines the modern phenomenon of psycho-geographer with the ancient trade of poet. (Christina Hardyment, London Clay by Tom Chivers audiobook review - adventures in the capital’s hidden underworld, The Sunday Times, October 2021)

Landfill sites, railway cuttings, abandoned warehouses and disused canals are all such places. Unloved and unkempt, they occupy the forgotten margins of our urban lives; these are the 'edgelands' explored by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts. Most of us have had occasion to visit them - perhaps taking an old fridge to the dump, or straying on a dog walk.(Benedict Allen, In search of the wasteland, The Independent, February 2011)

No signposts lead to the edgelands but their defining characteristics may include ancient bridges, disused petrol pumps, former railway lines or power stations. (Paul Clements, Let’s hear it for the River Shannon’s neglected but fascinating edgelands, The Irish Times, November 2020)

Origin:

The concept of Edgelands was introduced by British writer and campaigner Marion Shoard in 2002, to cover the disorganised but often fertile hinterland between planned town and over-managed country. (Wikipedia)