<
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/jan/16/trees-green-vision-europe-cities>
"From Madrid to Berlin and Paris to Budapest, scientists and planners agree,
trees, trees and yet more trees can help make Europe’s cities more comfortable
– even survivable – over the coming years, as global heating strengthens its
grip.
But concrete pavements, high-rise buildings, historical squares and underground
car parks are a hostile environment for trees, and authorities are finding it
hard to plant more. In fact, many EU cities are less green than they were a
century ago.
“It’s a massive challenge,” said Christophe Najdovski, the deputy mayor for
revegetation and green spaces on Paris city council. “We know with enough trees
we can lower the city’s summer temperature by up to 8C. They’re basically
natural air-conditioning. But planting them isn’t always easy.”
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not
be much clearer: trees in cities combat climate change both directly, by
storing carbon, and indirectly, by cooling urban areas down – reducing energy
demands.
They also offer city dwellers what the report calls “multiple co-benefits”:
improved air quality, reduced heat stress, fewer “urban heat islands” caused by
streets and buildings absorbing and retaining heat, “improving mental and
physical health”.
For city halls, in short, planting more trees should be a no-brainer. But
according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, tree
numbers in many of Europe’s cities have been falling since the early 1990s,
with some large conurbations losing as much as 10% of their cover.
In part, experts say, that is because older trees from the late 19th and early
20th centuries – those that have survived successive generations of urban
planners’ efforts to make more space for cars – are starting to reach the end
of their lives.
But it is also because of the technical difficulties, and cost, of planting new
trees. According to Ana Luisa Soares, a landscape architect at the University
of Lisbon, a new tree can cost a city administration as much as €2,000 (£1,740)
over five years."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
