{"id":32205,"date":"2019-08-27T10:37:27","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T14:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/?page_id=32205"},"modified":"2021-11-29T10:26:07","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:26:07","slug":"a-flash-of-silver-green-tnocs-new-book-of-flash-fiction-on-future-cities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/a-flash-of-silver-green-tnocs-new-book-of-flash-fiction-on-future-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flash of Silver Green: Stories of the Nature of Cities, Vol. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Preface from A Flash of Silver Green<\/em>: <\/strong>
Let\u2019s Imagine Future Cities<\/strong>
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We aspire to future green cities around the globe\u2014cities that are resilient, sustainable, livable, and just. What does this mean? There are many opinions and points of view.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Scientists and practitioners of all sorts have ideas about the future of cities, from climate and social scientists and ecologists, to planners, architects, and activists. Their solutions, as one would expect, are knowledge-based and technical in nature. They are typically framed this way, more or less: how do we identify problems and solve them.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Nature of Cities is certainly interested in such approaches. And TNOC is also interested in multiple ways of knowing and modes of action, beyond science and traditional knowledge. In fact, we describe ourselves as a frontier organization, specifically interested in the edges where disciplines and ways of knowing meet, mix, and merge.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>This passion for the fuzzy edges between points of view is an organizing philosophy that links The Nature of Cities and ArtsEverywhere.ca. This spirit of mixing ideas launched the idea of Stories of The Nature of Cities. We wanted to explore creative visions of the future of cities, and we specifically wanted to ground these visions in realms related to but beyond science and policy\u2014in the world of art, story, and imagination.<\/p>\r\n

You can get a copy of\u00a0A Flash of Silver Green <\/em>by buying it<\/a> from the publisher for $20.Or, you can get it by\u00a0donating $50 <\/a>or more to TNOC (which helps us do more\u00a0projects like this).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The opening of the winning story: Neither Above Nor Below<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
by Claire Miye Stanford, Los Angeles<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater<\/em>
\u2014New York Times headline, 12\/21\/17<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A flash of silver-green in the water. That is all Hasan sees, but it is enough. He runs after, alongside, his small legs propelling him across the planks and platforms that crisscross the city. The wood once scratched underfoot, but it has gone smooth with time and wear, just as the soles of Hasan\u2019s feet have grown thick and hearty, able to withstand all but the sharpest of splinters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

He hasn\u2019t seen a turtle for days. He promised Ricardo he would get one for him. He said it braggingly, hands on hips, in the way of eight-year-olds who still believe they are unstoppable, that the world holds no match for them. Now, days later, he is beginning to feel twinges of chagrin, a new emotion. But then, there it is: the flash of silver-green. Redemption.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

…<continues><\/blockquote><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So, we asked people to imagine, in the form of a flash or short fiction contest. Our original prompt read like this: What are the stories of people and nature in cities in 2099? What will cities be like to live in? Are they lush and green, verdant and biodiverse? What will cities look like, be made of? How will they be designed? Will they be tall, short, dense, underground, or under water? What of public spaces? Social organization? Government? Sustainability and food? Climate change and resilience? Poverty, consumption, wealth, and justice? How will we interact and relate to one another and the natural world? What sort of stories can we tell about our communities and the spaces that shape will them? What are the stories of people and the nature of cities in 2099?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Check our Volume 2 is this series: City in a Wild Garden.<\/a><\/blockquote><\/figure>\r\n

The guidelines of the prompt were very simple. Stories had to be set in a city in the distant future (i.e. in or near the year 2099), be 1,000 words or less, and have as significant plot points both nature and people. We received 1,200 submissions from 116 countries, from young people, adults, established writers, emerging writers, first-time writers, and more. They wanted to write about their visions of the future.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Very diverse in form, these 1,200 stories include science fiction, magical realism, speculative fiction, and fantasy. Many of these visions are quite dystopic, presenting challenging scenes and challenged societies that had neglected nature to the peril of people, had experienced disaster and revolution, had seen cities drown and bake and disintegrate. Justice and inequality are common themes, in communities divided into haves and have-nots.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

PUBLICATION STUDIO<\/a> is a publisher of original books distributing through a global network\u2014a printer and binder able to make books one-at-a-time\u00a0and a social gathering place for those interested in publishing. Publication Studio, founded in 2009, prints and binds books of works by artists and writers we admire.<\/blockquote><\/figure>\r\n

As Ursula Heise writes in the book\u2019s introduction: \u201cStories such as the ones in this book often see ecological crisis as a gateway to a new awareness and a new attribution of value\u2014both cultural and economic\u2014to the natural world and nonhuman species.\u201d<\/em> [You can read her whole introduction here<\/a>.]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Indeed, there are also stories of great beauty and hope, with nature that shines through the rubble, where people and the wild have merged in fundamental ways, where people were buried and rose again, where people moved and adapted; worlds with people whose beating hearts find comfort and life and love in reconceived cities embedded in thriving nature.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fifty-seven of these stories from 21 countries are in this book, including the seven that we judged to be prize-winners, authored by women from the United States, Canada, and India. These winners are placed at the beginning of each of the book\u2019s four sections. The overall winning story\u2014\u201cNeither Above Nor Below\u201d (by Claire Stanford)\u2014leads the section called \u201cWater\/Climate Change\u201d (many stories depicted drowned cities in the future) followed by prize-winners \u201cUolo and the Idol\u201d (by\u00a0Alyssa Eckles) and \u201cThe Garden\u201d (by Alice Towey). The section \u201cBiodiversity\u201d is filled with stories of wildlife, plants, and food and starts with prize-winners \u201cfrom eaves to footfall\u201d (by\u00a0Joanne Bristol) and \u201cMay Apple\u201d (by Elizabeth Twist). Many submitted stories were about technology, from smart devices to surveillance that can be avoided only in nature\u2014and we gathered these in a section of the same name, led off by \u201cThe Ten-Percent Thief\u201d (by\u00a0Lavanya Lakshminarayan). Finally, the section \u201cChildren\u201d is populated with young people making their way, often towards and not away from nature; young people who are trying to make different choices than their ancestors. This section starts with \u201cChild of the Oasis\u201d (by\u00a0Ari Honarvar).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This remarkable collection of 57 stories challenges us to think on how we act today in the service of both people and nature. They offer us imaginings of futures that emerge inexorably from the actions of now\u2014some dire and some hopeful, but all radically different from today.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A collection such as this is produced with a lot of help, and so the editors first want to thank the sponsors of the project: The Nature of Cities, ArtsEverywhere.ca, the University of Utah, the University of Mississippi, the University of Johannesburg, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the New York Urban Field Station (a joint venture of New York City Parks and the U.S. Forest Service). At these institutions, we are especially grateful to Shawn van Sluys (Musagetes Foundation); Diane Pataki and Sarah Hinners (University of Utah);\u00a0Douglass Sullivan-Gonz\u00e1lez (University of Mississippi); Lesley Lokko (University of Johannesburg); Ursula Heise (UCLA); and Lindsay Campbell, Erika Svendsen, and Bram Gunther (New York Urban Field Station).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We are fundamentally indebted to the 125 readers who helped us review the stories. These readers were from around the world, and we thank them. We could not have done this without them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Many thanks to our executive committee, who read and discussed the final 120 stories and made the selections for this collection. Members of this committee, made up of writers, artists, and scientists, were Darryl Butt (Salt Lake City), Paul Downton (Melbourne), Joe Gleason (Washington), Bram Gunther (New York), Peter Head (London), Ursula Heise (Los Angeles), Sarah Hinners (Salt Lake City), Diane Pataki (Salt Lake City), Mary Hall Surface (Washington), Cheryl Resetarits (Oxford),\u00a0Paul Douglas Michnewicz(Washington), Curtis Walker (Guelph), Patrick Lydon (Osaka), and Dimitra Xidous (Dublin).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We hope you enjoy these 57 stories and that they inspire you to consider the future of the nature of cities.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

David Maddox, New York<\/strong>
Curtis Walker, Guelph<\/strong>
Malerie Lovejoy, Oxford<\/strong>
May 2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\"\"<\/a>TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Preface: Preface from A Flash of Silver Green<\/em><\/a>: <\/strong>
Let\u2019s Imagine Future Cities<\/strong>, by David Maddox, Curtis Walker, and Malerie Lovejoy<\/p>\r\n

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Introduction: Imagining Future Cities in an Age of Ecological Change<\/strong><\/a>, by Ursula Heise<\/p>\r\n

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Section One: Water\/Climate Change<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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