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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology pp 11344–11361Cite as

Urban Forest Function, Design and Management

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Definition of the Subject with Brief Historical Background

Land use planners have increasingly been focusing on urban green infrastructure rather than individual green elements. Moreover, politicians, researchers, and practitioners have had to deal with the contributions of this urban green infrastructure to the quality of urban life and environment. They have started to realize that more integrated green area planning and management are required to meet current societal demands when operating in high-pressure environments. This has led to the emergence of new concepts and approaches of a more integrative kind. Urban greening , for example, has developed as the planning and management of all urban vegetation to create or add values to the local community in an urban area [40, 66]. Another more integrative concept resulting from the above-mentioned developments is that of urban forestry.

Urban forestry has become defined as the art, science, and technology of managing trees and forest...

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Abbreviations

Green infrastructure:

Green infrastructure is a planned network of multifunctional green spaces and interconnecting links which is designed, developed and managed to meet the environmental, social, and economic needs of communities.

Urban forest:

The sum of all woodland and other tree-based vegetation in and immediately surrounding an urban area.

Urban forestry:

The art, science, and technology of managing trees and forest resources in and around urban communities for the environmental, social, economic, and esthetic benefits trees provide to people.

Urban green space:

All vegetated lands in urban areas, including parks, woodland, gardens, cemeteries, orchards, etc. Often urban green space is used in terms of publicly owned green space.

Urban greening:

The planning and management of all urban vegetation to create or add values to the local community in an urban area.

Urban woodland:

Forested land located in or close to urban agglomerations, with a multiple forest functions approach. Typically, social and environmental forest services are the focus of urban woodland management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, Frederiksberg C, DK-1958, Denmark

    Dr. Kjell Nilsson & Cecil C. Konijnendijk

  2. Department of Landscape Management, Design and Construction, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 66, Alnarp, SE-23053, Sweden

    Anders Busse Nielsen

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  1. Dr. Kjell Nilsson
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  2. Cecil C. Konijnendijk
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  3. Anders Busse Nielsen
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Correspondence to Kjell Nilsson .

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    Robert A. Meyers

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Nilsson, K., Konijnendijk, C.C., Nielsen, A.B. (2012). Urban Forest Function, Design and Management. In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_218

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