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Street trees provide a wide range of benefits for cities. Street tree cover (STC) is explained by urban form, social stratification and lifestyle theories that operate at multiple scales. In this paper we examine how the urban form (street characteristics), social stratification and lifestyle (sociodemographics) account for variations of STC in Montréal. Tree cover was identified from Quickbird images and then overlaid on street segments to compute the STC. Each street segment was nested in a census tract. We used 2-level models with mixed effects and interactions (between street attributes and socio-demographic variables) while introducing a spatial term. Political, socioeconomic or other explanatory factors operating at the tract level can potentially explain 17.6% of the variation of STC. Overall, the street characteristics explained more variation in STC than the socio-demographic context. Lifestyle is less important than social stratification. Street length is positively associated with STC; street width and the percentage of duplexes and triplexes are negatively associated with STC, while construction age has a u-shaped effect on STC. Interactions show that STC is higher in expensive and highly-educated areas that have residential streets or streets with large setback (sidewalk). Areas predominantly comprised of low-income households could have higher or lower STC depending on the number of buildings and the percentage of duplexes and triplexes. Streetscape and socio-demographic contexts intertwine to create complex patterns of STC. Greening programs should be designed carefully according to local contexts since certain types of greening can lead to gentrification and displacement of low-income households.

3Recent studies have shown that urban vegetation is unevenly distributed across numerous North American cities: 4 neighbourhoods predominantly inhabited by low-income populations and/or by certain ethnic groups have less 5 vegetation cover. The goal of this paper is to examine the existence of environmental inequities related to access 6 to urban vegetation on the Island of Montreal for four population groups (low-income people, visible minorities, 7 individuals 0-14 years old and persons 65 years old and over). Six indicators of vegetation in and around 8 residential city blocks (within 250 m and 500 m) are computed by using QuickBird satellite images. These 9 indicators are then related to socioeconomic data by using different statistical analyses (T-test, seemingly 10 unrelated regression and multinomial logistic regression). The results show that low-income people and, to a 11 lesser degree, visible minorities reside in areas where vegetation is less abundant. On the other hand, the 12 opposite situation is found for children and the elderly. The use of indicators computed in and around city blocks 13 leads to the finding of a double inequity in certain neighbourhoods. This points to the need to target vegetation-14 deprived areas for urgent greening in order to improve vegetation cover within city blocks (in residential yards 15or through alternatives such as green walls and green roofs) and around these blocks (along streets and in parks). 16 17

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