Aim:

New routes for valuing urban treescapes in urban planning

A lone tree with blue sky behind

Project Description

We explored the national, local, social and cultural values people attach to urban trees across three cities – Cardiff, Milton Keynes and York. We analysed historical and current stories, giving insights into community connections to trees and woodlands.

These were reimagined through a series of storytelling performances, reaching over 200 people in the three cities. We created, collected and analysed more than 400 stories of the past, present and future using the project’s adaptation of the IPBES LIFE Framework.

The present values of urban trees were mapped using a participatory GIS approach and high-resolution remote sensing. Collaborating with local authorities and tree professionals, we developed a novel metric (CAVATs) to quantify amenity values, combining data on tree canopies and biophysical characteristics.

What we discovered...

We found that coproduction and interdisciplinary approaches generated rich data on the value of urban treescapes.

  • Stories of past and future treescapes reveal that trees have enduring value as symbols of shelter and protection, emphasising trees as a source of safety and continuity in urban environments.
  • Across all locations, citizens wanted to see more trees. Health and wellbeing were their primary concerns when discussing the benefits of treescapes.
  • Participants in all three cities saw treescapes as a vital connection between generations, linking the past, present and future.
  • High-resolution remote-sensing data and a canopy segmentation model advanced the ability to map and value individual trees within cities. The innovative CAVATs metric offers a new way to quantify the amenity value of urban trees.

Project Lead(s)

Professor Mike Wilson, Loughborough University

Project Website

https://www.valueoftrees.co.uk/