Trees in Canadian Cities: Indispensable Life Form for Urban Sustainability

Peter N. Duinker, Camilo Ordóñez, James W. N. Steenberg, Kyle H. Miller, Sydney A. Toni and Sophie A. Nitoslawski
Additional contact information
Peter N. Duinker: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 6100 University Ave., Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Camilo Ordóñez: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 6100 University Ave., Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
James W. N. Steenberg: Environmental Applied Science and Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Kyle H. Miller: Geography and Program in Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
Sydney A. Toni: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 6100 University Ave., Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Sophie A. Nitoslawski: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 6100 University Ave., Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: We argue that a healthy urban forest contributes immensely to the sustainability of cities. The argument is based on a comprehensive array of values elicited from Canadians in several cities. To begin, we define the urban forest as inclusive of all the trees in the city and thus representing the predominant contributor to a city’s green infrastructure. Then we enumerate and explain the broad diversity of ways in which urban people value trees in the city. We, thus, show the myriad pathways by which trees contribute positively to any city’s social, economic, and ecological sustainability. Following a short summary of the ways in which trees may detract from people’s quality of life, we present promising management directions for urban-forest improvement, as we understand the situation in Canada. We conclude that all cities can enhance their sustainability by improving the urban forest.

Keywords: sustainability; tree; urban forest; forest values (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/6/7379/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/6/7379/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:7379-7396:d:50900

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().