Leda Marritz notes that renderings of proposed landscape improvement projects often feature beautiful mature trees intended to spruce up streetscapes. But the associated plans regularly overlook a crucial element: room for the trees to grow.
Adding trees to urban landscapes can beautify an area and help convert carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. But, simply planting more and more young trees is not the most efficient way get good results. Leda Marritz explains that trees need both time and room to grow.
"[M]ost urban trees are planted in small openings where they receive a mere fraction of the soil needed to survive. Unless they can access additional soil or water nearby, these trees usually don't survive to maturity. As a result, they are replaced on a short cycle [PDF], an avoidable recurring expense and - when you consider that a tree with a 30-inch diameter removes 70 times more air pollution annually than one with a 3-inch diameter - a very serious missed opportunity. And that's just one measure of a tree's contribution. They also help with stormwater interception, urban heat island effect reduction, crime reduction."
Marritz's simple two-step solution is for cities to adopt "minimum soil volumes for street trees" and then put "the right tree in the right place."
FULL STORY: Planting Trees Is Like Not Eating A Marshmallow
Providing a Healthy Foundation for Our Arboreal Aides
As new studies show the fundamental connection between trees and human health, cities are recognizing the essential elements in cultivating thriving urban canopies. And they're enacting policies to ensure their protection and growth.
Climate Gardening: Cultivating Resilient Landscapes in Los Angeles
TreePeople’s 4th Annual Urban Soil Symposium explored how climate gardening, soil health, and collaborative land management strategies can enhance urban resilience in the face of climate change.
Urban Trees Have Bigger Impact in Hot, Dry Cities
The cooling effect of robust urban tree canopies is more pronounced in hotter, drier cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
Conservatives’ Decongestion Pricing Flip-Flop
When it comes to solving traffic problems, the current federal administration is on track for failure, waste, and hypocrisy.
San Francisco Turns On California’s First Speed Cameras
The city is the first in the state to use automated traffic enforcement to reduce speeding and traffic deaths.
Shaping LA’s Future: Public Voting Opens for LA2050 Grants
The LA2050 Grants Challenge invites Angelenos to vote on the top issues facing Los Angeles, helping direct $3 million in funding to organizations working to build a more connected and resilient region.
Chicago Transit Agencies on Brink of Major Crisis
Without additional funding, regional transit agencies will be forced to cut services by 40 percent.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Florida Atlantic University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland