More than half the population of the world now lives in areas defined as urban. There is growing pressure to convert more open space into residences and commercial buildings to serve the growing urban population than ever before. More people means more customers for entrepreneurs and more businesses means more revenue (taxes) for municipalities. But is this growing dense, urban development costly for urban living?

While this seems trite and inefficient, trees have been shown to be effective in preserving urban ecosystems. Of course, the trend is commonly to chop down trees to build another development. But keeping and increasing the number of trees have been shown to have many benefits for urban residents and businesses. Trees clean the air and water, reduce health costs, improve stormwater management, optimize building energy use, mitigate climate change, and provide many cultureal treats.

According to the US Forest Service, for every dollar invested in planting, cities get a $2.25 return on their investment each year. https://www.fs.fed.us/ucf/supporting_docs/UCF-Brief-Feb2018.pdf

A recent aerial survey of 35 megacities showed that 20% of the average city’s urban core is covered by trees, ranging from just 1% in Lima, Peru to 36% in New York City.

A study published last year aimed to determine how much trees contribute to human well-being in urban locations showed a correlation between the number of trees planted and human well-being. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0304380017300960

The study focused on 10 very large cities worldwide. The study estimated that each square kilometer of tree cover saved a city significantly in air pollution health care costs, water runoff, building energy heating and cooling costs, and in the value of CO2 removed. Total savings was estimated to be about $1.2 million per square kilometer of trees, on average in these 10 very large cities.

Despite the feeling that large cities have no room to plant trees, the study indicated that, on average, about 18% of a metropolitan area is available to plant additional trees. Potential locations included sidewalks, parking lots and plazas. Tree trunks can be located in narrow bands, yet the tree’s canopy could shade these areas and allow pedestrians or cars to move freely.

CCES has the experts to help your company or municipality (any size) design a sustainability plan involving trees (as well as other strategies) to maximize benefits, such as the ones above (energy savings, healthier employees, etc.). We can use the latest science to develop a plan that is specific and will benefit you. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.