Figure 1. Distribution of wasteland in England in 1982
(Environmental Advisory Unit, University of Liverpool, 1986).
The Industrial Revolution first occurred in Western Europe so that
accumulative impacts appeared there first. Take the England as an
example (Figure 1), derelict area has accumulated to a high level
and concentrated mainly in the north. Meanwhile, a city located in
the south-west corner was an exception and it has reached a peak of
around 5000ha of wasteland. However, concerns were not aroused until
urban wasteland kept increasing every year, as a result of recession
of traditional manufacture in developed countries, generating lots of
social and environmental problems (Zheng et al. 2011, 589). Wasteland,
the synonym of drosscape, refers to abandoned site such as railway
lines, harbours, industrial sites and landfills. Measures must be taken to
reduce the wasteland because land is one of the most important limited
sources on earth. Advanced techniques today ensure the opportunities
to convert wasteland into new functional fields. Therefore, urban re-
cycling has become a major solution of urban wastelands.
Urban recycling, as a method of reducing urban wasteland, has strong
relevance to the society. To begin with, urban recycling is commonly
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