If most people were asked to imagine trees, their minds probably go most immediately to the forest or countryside – open spaces dotted with mature trees or deep wooded areas packed with trees of all types. The trees lining city streets or in urban parks probably aren’t the first ones that come to mind. But these urban trees play a vital role in the health and well-being of the cities they inhabit and the people who live there.
Air Quality
Trees have the magnificent quality of being able to take in carbon dioxide (which we humans exhale, and car exhausts spit out) and turn it into fresh oxygen. It feels like a no-brainer that having these spectacular carbon-capture “machines” in our cities would be an important step in improving the quality of urban air.
Heat Mitigation
Areas with a good concentration of trees will both feel and actually be cooler than areas without trees. This is primarily due to the benefit of the shade created by their leaves, but is also helped by the fact that while concrete holds heat effectively (which it then slowly releases into the city in the relatively cooler evening hours) trees do not, allowing urban green areas to cool off more once the sun goes down, making for cooler nights and lower early-morning temperatures.
Mental, Physical, and Emotional Health
Spending time in and around nature can be an important part of people’s mental health care. Having access to green areas within a city makes this type of mental health benefit accessible to more people more often. In addition, having lovely green oases in urban areas can help to encourage outdoor activities, such as running, walking, and outdoor sports, which can all have significant benefits on our physical health. Parks and other pleasant, green, outdoor spaces can also be good places for people to meet with friends and neighbors, encouraging community-building, and improving social and emotional health on average.
Economic Benefits
Healthy trees increase property values (for all of the reasons listed here, people will pay more to live in areas with trees than without). Having shade from trees can also reduce summer energy bills by reducing the amount of energy output needed to cool buildings — and in the winter, after the leaves have fallen, the buildings will still get the maximum benefit from any available warming from the sun.
Wildlife Habitats
Where there are trees, providing food, protection, and potential homes, you will find wildlife. Squirrels, chipmunks, a variety of birds, butterflies and beetles, and so on, can build their homes in leafy urban environments. In particular, the presence of bees and other pollinators can be helpful to people who want to grow plants and flowers on their balconies or in small urban plots of land. In big, vibrant urban parks, you might even find deer, raccoons, and hawks!
Disaster Prevention
Pavement does not allow for the absorption of heavy rains or snowmelt — tree roots, and the soil around them, do. Urban areas without a significant tree population are more prone to flooding than those with good concentrations of trees. Trees can reduce the amount of rain runoff by up to 80% over a paved area.
When considering urban trees, it’s important to plan for the safety of people and property around the trees, so it’s vital to maintain them properly and in good health (especially to make sure tree trimming and tree pruning are carried out regularly and properly). And it’s important to choose the types of trees that will be happy to exist in the higher stress urban environment. But with planning, care, and maintenance, nurturing urban trees can be of great benefit to the entire community.
