Urban tree / Duncan Goodwin

There is a growing evidence base which documents the social, environmental and economic benefits that urban trees can deliver. Trees are, however, under threat today as never before due to competition for space imposed by development, other hard infrastructures, increased pressure on the availability of financial provision from local authorities, and a highly cautious approach to risk management in a modern litigious society. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us in construction and urban design disciplines to pursue a set of goals that not only preserve existing trees where we can, but also ensure that new plantings are appropriately specified and detailed to enable their successful establishment and growth to productive maturity. Aimed at developers, urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects and arboriculturists, this book takes a candid look at the benefits that trees provide alongside the threats which are eliminating them from our towns and cities. It takes a simple, applied approach that explores a combination of science and practical experience to help ensure a pragmatic and reasoned approach to decision making, in terms of tree selection, specification, placement and establishment.