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Building local identities through tree diversification

3/6/2018

 
Greater Lyon, France
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In the mid-1990s, plane trees represented over 52% of the tree population managed
 by the Greater Lyon Authority (GLA). In 2018, this had been brought down to 21.7%, while the overall number of species found in hard landscapes in the Lyon area had increased by 80%, with over 280 different species and 94 genres represented. This stark increase is a result of a strategic commitment to diversification. The goal set in the GLA Tree Charter is that, for trees in highways and other public hard landscapes, no single tree species should represent more than 10% of the whole. To deliver this, the GLA monitors the composition of its tree population at a strategic level. For each neighbourhood, it takes cues from the existing character of
the landscape to agree a local plant palette: this combination of species is used to help build upon and reinforce local identity, ensuring that the strategic 10% diversity goal does not result in a loss of local coherence and character.

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Melbourne’s coordinated approach to streetscape projects to double canopy

3/6/2018

 
​Melbourne, Australia
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​Melbourne is aiming to double public realm canopy cover from 22.5% (2011 baseline) to 40% by 2040. To achieve this goal set in Melbourne’s Urban Forest Strategy (2012), the council’s urban landscape department, which leads strategic planning, management and capital investment for the city’s public open spaces (including parks, gardens and the “urban forest”), conducted a comprehensive survey of Melbourne’s street trees. The survey looked at species, size and condition to assess the safe useful life expectancy of each tree. This database was then used to model how the canopy would evolve under different circumstances, including a “do nothing” scenario. The modelling showed that reaching the 40% canopy cover target would require planting an average of 3,000 trees a year over the next decade. The modelling did not focus exclusively on tree numbers but also considered how the tree planting conditions would affect canopy size. 

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Effective tree protection unlocks planning consent and letting success at the Angel Building

3/6/2018

 
Islington, London, England
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The Angel Building, a 260,000sqft office development by Derwent in Clerkenwell, in central London, was completed in 2010. In spite of a poor economic climate, two thirds of the building was let before completion, and full occupancy was reached very soon after opening. For Johanna Gibbons, landscape architect for the project, “there is no doubt that the environmental quality afforded through the successful retention of mature trees all around the building was a key differentiator for this infill development. A tree constraints plan was developed early and became a primary driver for the design. The curved building façade on St John Street was positioned and shaped in response to the location of the root protection area. The strategy was to retain groups of trees, primarily limes (Tillia spp.) and Caucasian wingnuts (Pterocarya fraxinifolia), at the corner of the project so as to create a microclimate facilitating building ventilation and energy conservation as well as the establishment of new tree and soft landscape around the scheme.

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Seattle’s Urban Forest Stewardship Plan

2/20/2018

 
Seattle, Washington, USA
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The City of Seattle introduced the Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) in 2007 as a guiding document to help address the needs of the local urban forest. Based on local canopy cover data available at the time, assessments of opportunities and challenges for protection and planting as well as benchmarking with other cities, the UFMP set a goal to increase the city’s canopy cover from 18 percent (2001 rough estimate, error margin unknown) to 30 percent by 2037. Because capacity for tree planting or management in an industrial setting is very different from that found in residential neighbourhoods or in parks, the UFMP considered the opportunities and challenges for tree protection and planting in nine land use categories. Goals for canopy cover increase were set for each.  The UFMP also defined a framework for City departments, non-profit organisations, residents, and the community as a whole to support efforts to grow and care for the urban forest.

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Wise microclimate tree selection for Cheapside

2/16/2018

 
​City of London, England
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In the centre of the City of London, between St Paul’s and Bank, the Cheapside area is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Since 2010, a series of major new developments have more than doubled the amount of retail floor space. The equivalent of a significant shopping mall is being created 
in a high street location, primarily along Cheapside itself. In response, the City of London Corporation launched a streetscape improvement programme aimed at rebalancing the relationship between pedestrians and vehicles, creating a safer and more inclusive environment while maintaining the current traffic capacity. Traffic lanes have been narrowed to four metres and footways widened by an average of three metres.

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Using rainwater for tree-based cooling on Garibaldi Street

2/16/2018

 
Lyon, France
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​Garibaldi Street is a major thoroughfare running through Lyon’s city centre.
 Designed as an “urban motorway” in the 1960s, the oversized road no longer serves contemporary needs for development and quality of space. Refurbishment was initiated in the 1990s, and is now entering into a second, more ambitious phase expected to turn the six-lane road into a people- friendly green street that will also serve economic regeneration. The 2.6km project drastically re-allocates space between highway users. ​Pedestrians, cyclists and buses now have the lion’s share. The scheme features extensive tree planting, designed to provide shade and manage surface water runoff from the footways and cycle paths. Structural “skeleton” growing medium is being used underneath footways and cycle paths to maximise the rooting volume.

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    About this Library

    This case study library was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Arboriculture Association and Barcham Trees.

    Categories

    All
    Analysis: Canopy Cover
    Analysis: I-Tree Eco
    Context: Arterial Street
    Context: Citywide
    Context: High Street
    Context: Newbuild
    Context: Retrofit
    Delivery: Community Engagement
    Design: Species Diversification
    Design: Species Selection
    Design: Tree Protection
    Objective: Active Travel
    Objective: Cooling
    Objective: Economic Growth
    Objective: Public Transit
    Objective: Traffic Calming
    Policy: Canopy Cover Targets
    Policy: Tree Strategy
    Technical: Continuous Trench
    Technical: Raft System
    Technical: Structural Soil
    Technical: SuDS

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