Growing the Urban Forest: our Practitioners' perspective

Green Infrastructure (GI) has become a preeminent planning and delivery concept since the millennium. The UK government (DCLG, Planning Practice Guidance, 2016) describes it as a network of multifunctional green space, urban and rural, which can deliver a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities. It is not simply an alternative description for conventional open space. As a network, it includes parks, open spaces, playing fields, woodlands, but also street trees, allotments and private gardens. It can also include streams, canals and other water bodies and features such as green roofs and walls. Whilst approaches to Green Infrastructure vary across the European continent, in most urban areas, individual trees, groups of trees and forests represent the most critical part of an Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI). The purpose of this chapter, written by the two practitioners of the COST Action FP1204 "GreenInUrbs", is to aid Architects and Urban Planners, as well as Senior Policy Makers and Green Space Managers in maximising the value of the Urban Forest in their territories as part of the urban areas’ overall Green Infrastructure.