Community Stories: Explaining Resistance to Street Tree-Planting Programs in Detroit, Michigan, USA

Carmichael, Christine; McDonough, Maureen H.

doi:10.1080/08941920.2018.1550229

Cited by 75 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Residents may also be resistant to tree-planting efforts because of past experiences dealing with poorly maintained or neglected urban forests. Resident surveys conducted in Detroit (MI, USA) found that low-income neighborhoods had negative perceptions of tree-planting campaigns, in part because communities had to shoulder the maintenance costs of Detroit's past tree-planting efforts when budget cuts reduced the maintenance budget of the program [111].…”

Section: Potential Negative Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

It Is Not Easy Being Green: Recognizing Unintended Consequences of Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Taguchi

Weiss

Gulliver

et al. 2020

Water

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Green infrastructure designed to address urban drainage and water quality issues is often deployed without full knowledge of potential unintended social, ecological, and human health consequences. Though understood in their respective fields of study, these diverse impacts are seldom discussed together in a format understood by a broader audience. This paper takes a first step in addressing that gap by exploring tradeoffs associated with green infrastructure practices that manage urban stormwater including urban trees, stormwater ponds, filtration, infiltration, rain gardens, and green roofs. Each green infrastructure practice type performs best under specific conditions and when targeting specific goals, but regular inspections, maintenance, and monitoring are necessary for any green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) practice to succeed. We review how each of the above practices is intended to function and how they could malfunction in order to improve how green stormwater infrastructure is designed, constructed, monitored, and maintained. Our proposed decision-making framework, using both biophysical (biological and physical) science and social science, could lead to GSI projects that are effective, cost efficient, and just.

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Section: Potential Negative Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

It Is Not Easy Being Green: Recognizing Unintended Consequences of Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Taguchi

Weiss

Gulliver

et al. 2020

Water

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“…Trees bring a number of significant benefits to a region, including heat-reduction, pollution mitigation, and stormwater runoff absorption [20,31,32]. Because tree planting initiatives often underserve low-income communities and communities of color [33,34], canopy expansion efforts should aim to reduce inequities by planting trees with social and environmental health considerations in mind. These considerations are captured by our Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI).…”

Section: Recommendations For Heat Reduction Through Urban Canopy Expamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Opportunities exist for public-private partnerships for tree planting and maintenance, such as Cambridge's "Back of Sidewalk" program, in which the city plants trees on private land up to 20 ft from public sidewalks; this allows trees to be planted in conditions where they are more likely to thrive [41]. Tree-planting practices that involve community engagement may also be more likely to succeed [34].…”

Section: Fig 1 "mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research shows that canopy expansion programs can fail due to poor perception by residents, caused by (among other things) exclusion of the city residents from decisionmaking about tree species and maintenance [34]. The decision-making tool was therefore designed for use by city residents as well as city officials.…”

Section: Stakeholder Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boston is just one of a handful of cities that have struggled to expand urban tree canopy cover (see discussions of Detroit and San Francisco, respectively, in [34] and [47]). We therefore designed our decision-making framework and Shiny application to be extendable for almost any U.S. city.…”

Section: Broader Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A tree-planting decision support tool for urban heat island mitigation

Werbin¹,

Heidari

Buckley³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Heat poses an urgent threat to public health in cities, as the urban heat island (UHI) effect can amplify exposures, contributing to high heat-related mortality and morbidity. Urban trees have the potential to mitigate by providing substantial cooling, as well as co-benefits such as reductions in energy consumption. The City of Boston has attempted to expand its urban canopy, yet maintenance costs and high tree mortality have hindered successful canopy expansion. Here, we present an interactive web application called "Right Place, Right Tree -Boston" that aims to support informed decision-making for planting new trees. To highlight priority regions for canopy expansion, we developed a Boston-specific Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) and present this alongside maps of summer temperatures. We also provide information about tree pests and diseases, suitability of species for various conditions, land ownership, maintenance tips, and alternatives to tree planting.

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