Arboreal Urbanism
Ecologists consider trees to be the most successful life forms on Earth. Could planning begin with the tree as an irreducible landscape unit to create larger urban and regional frameworks?
Trees deliver a myriad of services in city infrastructure, from traffic management, carbon sequestration, and pollution mitigation, to economic development and definition of public space. How do trees consistently add value to the city, and what has been their role in good place-making? Historically, the integration of trees into the physical structure of cities has occurred through known spatial formats (e.g., parks, arbors, promenades, groves, allees, greenways, and street liners) deployed throughout different times and places—what could be likened to a “design economy of trees”. Trees rival buildings in their capacity to define urban space.
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