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NATURE AND THE CITY

The River Soar in Leicestershire

'Nature is a word which embraces the physical world in its entirety, perhaps including humans, as a species, are a part'. The City in contrast is a 'large urban settlement' (Johnston 2005), therefore it is very important to understand the inter-relations between the two and the presence of nature in a city, such as the River Soar in Leicester, which this article focuses on.

History

There have been many towns on the site of modern day Leicester including Iron Age, Roman, Medieval and Victorian towns [1]. These towns have all grown up around the River Soar; it has provided protection from invaders, such as at Leicester Abbey (St Mary De Pratis) where the river forms part of the boundaries of the grounds [2]. Villages have grown up on the banks of the river, relying on it to help with the economic success of the inhabitants. These villages include, Barrow on Soar and Wanlip. They grew up on opposite banks of the river and the former (on the east bank) relied on the river as a power source for the watermill [3] used in the hosiery and knitwear industries. Where as Wanlip relied in the river as a transport link for its gravel quarry [4]. Then in the late eighteenth century the industrial revolution transformed Leicester, as it did the rest of Britain, and the Soar canal (linked to the Grand Union Canal) was finished in 1794. The canal provided a cheap source of transport, especially for coal and iron, and so the engineering industry of Leicester was allowed to flourish. Today the river provides a home to both industrial and residential property.

There is also myths surrounding the river, the most famous of which is that at the time of the dissolution, Richard III's body was dug up and dragged through the streets of Leicester by a jeering mob, and eventually hurled into the River Soar near Bow Bridge in the early seventeenth century [5].

The River Now and in the Future

The redevelopment of Bede Island South along the River Soar to include 440 units of which 131 will be private rented houses and 240 will be De Montfort University (DMU) Halls of Residence is part of the changing relationship that society has with nature. From pre-industrial societies respecting nature, to the changed western view where capitalist modernity allowed for societies to conquer nature and now to a society wanting to rediscover the wild and be re-united with it as closely as possible (Cohen 2000).

The redevelopment of Bede Island is part of the changing relationship where potential buyers are encourages to 'live the dream'; of living and enjoying the benefits the river has to offer. The River Soar is in a sense becoming the most valuable natural resource Leicester has. One reason for this is because the river is readily accessible to the majority of the city's residents (Bryant 1982). The restoration of the riverside for DMU Halls of Residence reflects the cultural environment of Leicester, as the River Soar has become of more value it is no surprise to see maintenance of rural character and the regeneration of the riverside.

However, the fact that a hotel, land use value C1, and business units, land use value B1, are proposed to be developed on Bede Island reflects the economic motives of the city council. Noel Castree identified a reason for nature's importance in society - it shows how capitalist production lets nothing get in the way in the search for profitability (Cloke 2005). The river Soar is being marketed as a commodity for profit with the riverside becoming part of our consumer culture. Society's relationship has changed from one of industrial use to recreational and residential, yet at the same time both have sought benefit from the river in terms of profit.

Nature as a Commodity

Nature within cities is becoming increasingly commodified. The process of commodification has six aspects:

Privatisation, item can be owned
Alienability, owner is able to change
Individuation, item can be split from its supporting environment
Abstraction, commodity can be put into a much broader grouping
Valuation, commodity is given a value
Displacement, commodity then takes on a new meaning

(Castree, 2003)

Examples of this commodification process can be witnessed across the River Soar, for example, a new development along the riverside is being marketed as giving the buyer the opportunity of 'living the dream'. In this respect the houses are selling the image of living in a fresh riverside community when the reality might be quite the opposite.

This process of nature becoming a commodity is being witnessed in many other cities. For example, Grahem and Keil (1998) witness similar changes in the city of Toronto, Canada. Nature has become an image which can be purchased and resold in a variety of forms.

It also seems that as people's awareness of environmental issues increases. People want to live closer to nature, as if by engaging in a 'natural' lifestyle will benefit the environment. This is a falsehood as by selling nature as a commodity is just becoming an excuse for further development to occur.

However returning to Castree's previous aspects of commodification, it must be noted that the turning of nature into a commodity can not fully occur in the way that physical items become commodities. It is impossible to remove nature from its supporting environment and nature can never be completely owned.

Industry on the River

Industry on the River Soar in Leicester has declined over the past century as the canal system has become less important in the location of industry due to the growth of other methods of transporting raw materials and the tertiarisation of industry in the UK. Industry on the river grew drastically during the industrial revolution to meet growing demands. For example, the gas works established to the west of the Grand Union Canal were established, in part, due to the advantage of the canal being able to provide a steady and reliable transportation of coal to fuel the gas production facility. Although the use of the canal to transport raw materials has declined it is, apparently, still used to transport coal around the UK. Since the decline of industry on the river and canal, some of the old, disused industrial buildings have been redeveloped as retail, leisure and accommodation facilities. From viewing a local council plan for the future development of the riverside it is clear that they are intending to develop any industry along the river in the future. They are instead planning, among other things, a 100 berth marina, over 500 housing units and more leisure facilities. It would appear that the industrial legacy of the river and canal in Leicester has come to an end.

Physical Aspects of the River Soar

Although the water may look unsafe, it is in fact reasonably harmless. The canal is full of soil, algae, and bacteria which over a long period of time have managed to remove the majority of the pollution that was dumped there during the period of industrial growth. Larger species such as insects, fish and snails survive on these and in turn are eaten by birds and animals.

Birds - There are large numbers of swans in the area but normally only during the winter as in the summer they tend to spread out and breed. Also there are rare kingfishers as well as the common mallards, moorhens and coots.

Insects - dragonflies and other water insects.

Plants - native water lilies (with yellow blooms) flower in the summer and produce 'brandy bottle' seeds in the winter, water forget-me-nots, Butterbur; water reeds called Phragmites; gypsywort and buddleia grow in the cracks in the banks.

Trees - willow, ash, lime and alder.

Animals - bats flying low over the water in the evening are probably Daubentons Bats. Bats flying higher up are likely to be Pipistrelles. Both are feeding on insects. There are also large numbers of badgers which have made sets in the waste piles on the side of the canal.

Fish - Plentiful supplies of brown trout, barbel, carp, roach and chubb live in the rich and relatively clean waters.

Lichens - look on the sandstone blocks on the edge of the canal. These only live where the air is clean enough: a good sign of a healthy local environment.

Landscaping - from 2004 onwards, parts of the hard concrete and tarmac edges on the far side of the canal and riverside are being replaced by rolls of coconut matting - Not only do these look less harsh, but they are filled with seeds of native flowers, and encourage algae, plants, insects, birds and wildlife.

Conclusion

The River Soar has been integral part of city life since the cities industrial beginnings, in the seventeenth century, when the river provided cheap transport links across the country. Since then the river is constantly being redeveloped, moving away from its industrial background, offering modern housing and leisure facilities. Industry, on the other hand, has gone into decline. This indicates the changing relationship between nature and the city. Regardless of this changing relationship wildlife continues to flourish along the river, evident in the vast number of different plant and animal species present.

References

Bryant, Russwurm, Mclellan, C,L, A (1982) The City's Countryside Land and it's Management in the Rural-Urban Fringe, Longman Inc, New York.
Castree N (2003) Commodifying What Nature? Progress in Human Geography 27 3 273-297
Cloke, Crang, Goodwin, P, P, M (2005) Introducing Human Geographies (second Edition), Brookpoint Ltd, Oxon (Oxfordshire).
Cohen, Kennedy, R, P, (2000) Global Sociology, Palgrave, Basingstoke.
Grahem J, Keil R (1998) Reasserting Nature - Constructing Urban Environments After Fordism in: Braun B (ed) Remaking Reality: Nature at the millenium, London Routledge.
Johnston RJ, Gregory D, Pratt G, Watts M (2005) The Dictionary of Human Geography, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.