Despite their good intentions, cities rarely have the full set of skills and capabilities to turn their plans into a reality. Our research looks at what needs to change.
Articles on Urban forests
Displaying 21 - 34 of 34 articles
Green spaces can be part of the plan to ‘build back better’ after COVID-19. But city officials and policy-makers must address systemic racism for urban green spaces to benefit public health.
The more our cities grow, the more we need access to enjoy — and be in relationship with — urban forests to maintain our well-being.
To protect urban trees, it’s important to reduce the impact from construction. Advance planning and close supervision can help.
We must re-establish contact between our cities and the natural world.
At the peak of a summer heatwave in Adelaide, an aerial survey of land surface temperatures reveals just how much cooler neighbourhoods with good tree and vegetation cover can be.
Inner Melbourne alone has lost 2,000 street trees to major developments within a decade. Losing tree cover makes it even more difficult for our cities to cope with an increasingly tough climate.
City trees are often short-lived and many others get cut down in their prime. Turning them into mulch both wastes timber and releases stored carbon. A wood rescue program creates a more fitting legacy.
Trees and the shade they provide are one of the best ways of cooling cities. But they also present challenges that are best resolved by managing this shared resource as part of an urban commons.
Greater urban density is making it harder to preserve, let alone increase, tree cover. It’s vital, then, to demonstrate the full value of green infrastructure for healthy liveable cities.
Thirty tree species make up more than half of Australia’s urban forests. Some won’t survive climate change, so cities must plant a more diverse mix of the right species to preserve their tree cover.
Expanding green cities needs a holistic approach, and learning from Melbourne and Canberra is a good place to start.
Tree bonds are set to be introduced by a Melbourne city council to protect city trees. But how do they work and why are they needed?
Achieving green cities will require more than just canopy cover targets and central city strategies. It will need new approaches to urban planning and development.
Top contributors
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Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Associate Director Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor in Urban Science, University of California, Davis
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Professor and ARC Future Fellow, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
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Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University
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Distinguished Professor, Director of Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University
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National Technical Executive in Ecology at WSP Australia Pty Ltd. Adjunct Associate Professor, School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne
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Research Fellow, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne
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Ecologist, School of Biological Sciences, Adelaide University
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PhD Candidate and Vanier Scholar, York University, Canada
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Senior DECRA Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University
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Professor, School of the Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate professor, The University of Melbourne