Delivering a Multi-Functional and Resilient Urban Forest

Sustainability

James D. Hale⁶  Thomas A. M. Pugh⁴  Jon P. Sadler⁶  Christopher T. Boyko⁸  Julie Brown¹⁰  Silvio Caputo⁷  Maria Caserio⁵  Richard Coles⁵  Raziyeh Farmani²  Chantal Hales³  Russell Horsey⁹  Dexter V. L. Hunt^1,6  Joanne M. Leach^1,6  Christopher D. F. Rogers^1,6  A. Rob MacKenzie⁶ 

[1] School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; E-Mails:;College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK; E-Mail:;London School of Commerce, London SE1 1NX, UK; E-Mail:;Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research/Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; E-Mail:;Faculty of the Arts, Design and Media, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B4 7BD, UK; E-Mails:;School of Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; E-Mails:;Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Building, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK; E-Mail:;ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK; E-Mail:;Institute of Chartered Foresters, Brunswick Court, Brunswick Square, Bristol BS2 8PE, UK; E-Mail:;Faculty of the Creative Industries, Southampton Solent University, East Park Terrace, Southampton SO14 0YN, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: urban;    forest;    tree;    resilient;    resilience;    ecosystem services;    scenarios;    systems;    futures;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su7044600

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Tree planting is widely advocated and applied in urban areas, with large-scale projects underway in cities globally. Numerous potential benefits are used to justify these planting campaigns. However, reports of poor tree survival raise questions about the ability of such projects to deliver on their promises over the long-term. Each potential benefit requires different supporting conditions—relating not only to the type and placement of the tree, but also to the broader urban system within which it is embedded. This set of supporting conditions may not always be mutually compatible and may not persist for the lifetime of the tree. Here, we demonstrate a systems-based approach that makes these dependencies, synergies, and tensions more explicit, allowing them to be used to test the decadal-scale resilience of urban street trees. Our analysis highlights social, environmental, and economic assumptions that are implicit within planting projects; notably that high levels of maintenance and public support for urban street trees will persist throughout their natural lifespan, and that the surrounding built form will remain largely unchanged. Whilst the vulnerability of each benefit may be highly context specific, we identify approaches that address some typical weaknesses, making a functional, resilient, urban forest more attainable.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.