Week9 Research

Healthy Trees

Trees and green spaces lower stress levels and encourage people to exercise and socialise more, experts at the forum said.

But with urban populations projected to increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050, demand for more housing and transport is putting pressure on green spaces, they said.

And a lack of expertise, data or the ability to attract funds means cities tend to opt for “grey” infrastructure projects over “green” ones to fulfill the same job, according to a report by New York-based 100 Resilient Cities network, published on Wednesday.

That could mean building a concrete wall to protect a coastal city from flooding instead of planting mangroves, which are effective, less costly, more visually pleasing and improve air quality, said 100 Resilient Cities, which produced the report.

‘Creating Happiness’

Deprived parts of cities often lack trees and other green spaces.

Residents in almost every city affected by climate change are calling for more equity and fairness, said David Miller, North American director of C40 and a former mayor of Toronto.

“Often that’s about economic goods, but it’s also about social goods like green spaces, and forests and health,” he said.

New York city is planting 1 million trees, and mapping where those are most needed, especially in deprived areas, he added.

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