Landscape Architecture in Transition the place of trees in the city of the future.

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1 Tree Health and the Landscape what we need to know Landscape Architecture in Transition the place of trees in the city of the future. Alan Simson, DipLA[Dist], DipEnvMan, FLI, MArborA, AoU, MIHort, MISHS. Reader in Landscape Architecture + Urban Forestry Director of Research for Art, Architecture + Design Leeds Metropolitan University Landscape Institute Bio-security Committee

2 An outline of this presentation Landscape Architecture in transition Urban Futures The Benefits we gain by having Trees in our Cities Urban Trees in the UK standard design themes All too often... Liveable Cities what can we learn from elsewhere? Some Thoughts on Tree Species in the City Where do we go from here?...

4 The four main challenges facing cities Globalisation Great economic + social change Industrial educated economy Global competition Accelerating social + geographical mobility Social Exclusion Growing exclusion Unemployment / Poverty Especially vulnerable groups / plurality Segregated Cities

5 Urban Governance Increasing demands on cities A need for new urban management approaches Challenge of local democracy Urban Environment Environmental + sustainability problems Climate [weather]change Challenges to lifestyles + mobility Cultural heritage assets

6 The Sprawling City..Un-Sustainable! Low residential density Unlimited outward extensions Spatial segregation of different types of land use Leapfrog development No centralised ownership or planning Transport dominated by private cars Fragmented governance Variety in fiscal capacity of government Commercial strip development Difficulty in providing started homes, etc.

7 The Compact City Sustainable! High residential + employment densities Mixture of land uses Fine grain of land uses Increased social + economic interactions Contiguous development Contained urban development Urban Infrastructure Multimodal Transportation High degrees of accessibility, street connectivity, impervious surfaces Low open space ratio Unitary Control of Planning Fiscal capacity to finance urban facilities + infrastructure

8 What is sustainability? Sustainability refers to the way things ought to be and how we ought to live; It suggests we re-think our relationship to the cultural construct we call nature ; It is a complex dialogue, a moral dialogue; When does a dialogue become dogma?

9 The Compact City Paradox For a city to be sustainable, functions and population must be concentrated at higher densities, but For a city to be liveable, functions and population must be dispersed at lower densities and have more trees!

10 LANDSCAPE URBANISM a theory of urbanism that argues that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organising the city and enhancing the urban experience. Charles Waldheim 2006

11 ADAPTIVE URBANISM a school of thought in urban design which sees urban patterns as emergent characteristics of a dynamic cultural and ecological system, rather than as ideal types that are independent of trends in the environment.

12 It emphasises the need for cities to adapt to changing environmental, economic and societal conditions, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, fuel scarcity, human health trends, air/water pollution, etc.

13 The Benefits of Trees Environmental Economic Financial Social

14 Environmental addressing climate [weather] change Urban trees reduce the urban heat island effect through evapotranspiration; They provide shade, thus making buildings & streets cooler and more people-friendly in summer [up to 8 C] and more retail friendly too; They assist in removing dust & particles from the air;

15 Environmental continued They slow the rate at which precipitation reaches the ground [by up to 36%, which can help to reduce the effects of flash flooding] Good tree-pit design can absorb 25mm rainfall. They help reduce wind speeds; Trees help to reduce traffic noise by absorbing & deflecting sound; They increase biodiversity. Can help prevent cancers

16 Copenhagen

17 Copenhagen

18 Leeds

19 Economic Urban trees can increase property values by 7 18% - the larger they grow, the value grows proportionally; They can assist in creating a destination of choice for tourists / visitors; They can improve the environmental performance of buildings by reducing heating and cooling costs; Sites with mature trees can be worth more as development sites;

20 Economic continued Trees can create a positive perception of place for potential property buyers/investors; Urban trees improve the health of local populations, reducing health costs.

21 Financial : Methods of Appraisal Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers [ CTLA ] 1957 Helliwell Method 1967 / 2008 Depreciated Replacement Cost [DRC] Urban Forests Effects Model 2000 [ now known as i-tree Eco : ] Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees [ CAVAT ] 2007 :

22 Social Trees help to create a sense of place & local identity, especially in our increasingly plural communities; They increase pride in the local area; They create focal points & landmarks They have a positive impact on people s physical & mental health; They have a positive impact on crime reduction.

28 Bradford

29 Bradford

30 Bradford

33 The Roots of the English anti-urban Tendency Life Expectancy in the Victorian City in 1841: Manchester: 26.6 years Glasgow: 27 years Liverpool: 28.1years (Tristram Hunt, Building Jerusalem, 2004)

34 Things are changing fast Major cities throughout Europe constitute the nervous system of the economic and political body of the continent. The more nation states wane [and they are, in spite of UKIP], the more cities emerge as the driving force in the making of a new European society Castells 1993 : unreasonably amended by Simson 2013.

35 SEVEN DESIGN THEMES FOR URBAN TREES AVENUES SINGLE LINES BLOCKS GRIDS GROUPS / COMMUNITIES TRAINED TREES LANDMARK TREES

36 AVENUES

40 SINGLE LINES

48 BLOCKS

51 GRIDS

54 GROUPS / COMMUNITIES

59 TRAINED TREES

63 LANDMARK TREES

68 but all too often...

78 Trees in Towns 2 : 2008 Now planting less in the urbs than we were 15 years ago [Trees in Towns 1: 1993] 25% + of new trees die More trees being felled, often unnecessarily One third of Local Authorities have no working tree strategy 95% UK Local Authorities have not conducted any CBA analysis on their tree stock.

79 A new municipal landscape?

81 WHAT MAKES A LIVEABLE c.21 st CITY 1 Energy Food Water Transport Jobs / Development Retail Telecommunications Public services Emergency Services Health Finance

82 WHAT MAKES A LIVEABLE CITY 2 It includes, but is not limited to Access to daylight and sunlight The opportunity to walk unimpeded A sense of personal safety Ready access to trees, woods and parks Ready access to art, music, culture The availability of fresh food + clean water Proximity to friends

83 TOP TEN LIVEABLE CITIES Helsinki Zürich Copenhagen Munich Melbourne Vienna Sydney Berlin Tokyo Madrid

84 Can we learn from elsewhere?

85 USA

90 CHINA

100 SWEDEN

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102 DENMARK... Copenhagen

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111 GERMANY

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120 VIENNA..

121 Vienna

122 VIENNA

123 The NETHERLANDS... AMSTERDAM

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125 Amsterdam

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127 Amsterdam

128 Amsterdam

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135 ZUIDPLEIN AMSTERDAM

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141 SPAIN... MADRID

142 la m30 desaparece bajo tierra

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163 Where do we go from here?

164 Trees in the City can help they are not a Cosmetic there re a Metaphysic First, we can significantly improve our towns and our cities by shaping the materials of those places, including trees, to create a better human and bio-diverse habitat than now exists, without the need to emulate or copy nature;

165 Secondly, in order to achieve this, we must plant trees en masse, in groups, lines, blocks or in whatever disposition is appropriate to the site, in accordance with their intrinsic biological and evolutionary requirements, not as scattered individuals or orphans...

166 Thirdly, this must be part of a belief in the value and importance of the city as a nucleus of our European culture, where a quality of human and bio-diverse life can be nurtured and realised, together with a belief in the fact that to achieve such a culture necessitates a more radical approach to designing with and accommodating trees of stature in our urban landscape design, with a genuine trans-disciplinary approach to problem solving.

167 Pick the right trees 1 Function the desired benefits from the tree Character the historical & landscape character of the area Diversity the characteristics & profile of the wide tree population Design the scale, balance, impact, texture, colour expected from the tree Support Capacity alignment with the community s aspirations, as well as with long-term management & maintenance capacity

168 Pick the right trees 2 Site Constraints, including: Soil types & conditions, amount of sun, surrounding building height, available space above & below ground Potential Nuisance, including the dropping of fruits, seeds or pollens, obstruction of light to habitable rooms, canopy density Sightline for CCTV, PV, highway & street lighting, clearance for overhead cables & vehicles Risk of damage to structure the tree may cause requires an awareness of the soil type, the tree species and its characteristics, foundation design, etc.

169 Pick the right trees 3 Beware of the native v alien debate and the rising tyranny of ecology [Alison Chase 1995] GERMANY Archetype plants established before 1500 Neophyte plants established after 1500

170 Pick the right trees 4 We must diversify the tree species we use We must give more consideration to the genetics of the tree species We must talk more with nurseries and plant suppliers We must take biosecurity much more seriously We must use the knowledge that is available to us We must not procrastinate we must act decisively, quickly and effectively

171 Worth a serious thought.. in a given area [ie. a historic garden? a town centre?, a houseing area? a campus?], don t plant more than: 10% of a species of tree 20% of a genus of tree 30% of a family of tree

172 and in conclusion

173 Sovereign Square, Leeds

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176 03 Response to Plans Panel Questions

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179 Integrated Infrastructure CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Energy Food Water Transport Telecommunications Public services Emergency Services Health Finance GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE Ecological Infrastructure Network of multifunctional urban forest Climate change: adaptation / mitigation Liveability of communities Trans-boundary issues / environments Design / Management continuum

180 Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. Frank Zappa

181 The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destinations. Roughly after John Scharr

182 Thank you for listening

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