Politics of Street Trees

Jan Woudstra trained in landscape architecture and horticulture in the Netherlands and at Kew and completed an MA at the University of York, at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies. His PhD at University College London looked at modernism in twentieth-century landscape design. After having worked in private practice with much tree-related business, he joined the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield, where he is a Reader in Landscape History and Theory. He has published widely, including: Jan Woudstra and Colin Roth (eds), A History of Groves (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2018), and Jonathan Finch and Jan Woudstra, Capability Brown, Royal Gardener: The Business of Place-making in Northern Europe (2020).Camilla Allen is a landscape architect and environmental historian. She completed her doctorate, ‘The Making of the Man of the Trees’, in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, on the forester and conservationist Richard St. Barbe Baker (1889–1982). Her research focuses upon the relationship we have with the natural world which she explores through particular places, people and events like Britain's three tree cathedrals, the designation of special groves within California's coast redwood forest, and the commemorative planting of trees in Sheffield during and after the Great War.

"Deftly weaving together narratives of politics and landscape, this timely book brings a fresh, international perspective to the complex and contested subject of urban trees." Tom Williamson, Professor of Landscape History, University of East Anglia, UK "The book provides unique insights into street trees and the broader politics that shape our cities. A compelling collection of case studies from different points in history and varied places around the world. It is essential reading for anyone interested in urban nature or the politics of urban spaces."Tenley Conway, Professor, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada"Decision-makers, technicians, designers, and tree lovers will all benefit from this manifesto on the political dimension of urban trees. Explored within the perspective of long history as well as through recent dissensions around the world, this learned and sensitive work offers a challenging perspective, and enticement to conserve roadside planting as cultural heritage."Stéphanie de Courtois, Associate professor at Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles, France"Street trees not only beautify the cityscape, but city dwellers also often build an emotional bond with them. They play a central role in the discussion about biodiversity and adaptation to climate change. This book provides background information and helps to further develop this crucial component of urban green space in a forward-looking manner."Norbert Kühn, Professor, Head of the Department of Vegetation Technology and Planting Design, Technical University, Berlin, Germany"Never before have so many authors contributed to a single volume focusing on the politics of street trees, taking perspectives from many different countries."Mark Johnston, review in Garden History

• Part one: Historic perspectives on street trees and politics 1. The ‘Right to Plant’: roadside tree planting in The Netherlands Jan Woudstra 2. ‘Trees even in their very roads’: mid seventeenth-century English perspectives on trees, streets, and politics Felicity Stout 3. Green lines of power? The Apprentice Boys' trees and the walls of Derry/Londonderry Finola O’Kane 4. Progress and economics: planting roadside fruit trees in German regions in the 18th and 19th centuries Sylvia Butenschön and Thomas Thränert 5. Sylvan strife: tree conflicts in Victorian and Edwardian towns Paul A. Elliott 6. Drivers of street tree species selection: the case of London planetrees in Philadelphia Lara A. Roman and Theodore S. Eisenman 7. A ‘silent’ activist for trees: the life and legacy of Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel in Mysore, India Gert Groening 8. A broken covenant: the creation and desecration of Sheffield’s living memorials Camilla Allen 9. Roads of modernisation: street tree planting in the Republic of China (1911-1949) Yishi Liu and Jan Woudstra 10. Japanese cherry pride on foreign ground Wybe Kuitert Part two: Street tree values, policy, and management 11. Highway tree policies and management: an historical perspective of ownership and responsibility Jan Woudstra and Camilla Allen 12. Street trees matter, so what’s the matter with street trees? How the ecosystem services and disservices of street trees can and should influence attitudes Ross Cameron 13. Emerging challenges and developments with respect to street trees in compact cities Kai Wang, Jian Hang and Julian C.R. Hunt 14. The opportunity to interact with the urban forest is a human right Alan Simson 15. What street trees mean: memory, beauty, hospitality John Miller 16. Climate change, forest fires, and evolving street tree policies in Porto, Portugal Cláudia Fernandes, Catarina Teixeira and Isabel Martinho da Silva 17. The political economy of street trees John Henneberry and Philip Catney 18. The economics of street trees – Why we so often can’t see the wood for the trees Philip B. Whyman 19. Roadside trees and traffic safety policies Jan Woudstra 20. Streets Ahead or the Road to Hell? Analysing street tree strategies in the UK Nicola Dempsey Part three: Community engagement, civic action, and governance 21. Legal responsibility for street trees Charles Mynors 22. Occupying public space, generating public spheres: street tree art and activism in East and West Berlin in the 1970s and 1980s Sonja Dümpelmann 23. The legacy of colonial and arpartheid eras on the distribution, composition and representation of street trees in South Africa Charlie Shackleton, Nanamhla Gwedla and Elandrie Davoren 24. Against all odds: making the case for trees in Bogotá, Colombia Germán Tovar Corzo and Sylvie Nail 25. Legal protection of street trees in Israel: Actors, process, and enforcement Yifat Holzman-Gazit 26. Tracing the socio-political dynamics of street tree contestation in the twenty-first century through the Sheffield case-study Ian D. Rotherham and Matthew Flinders 27. Tree/House/Street: site lines as fight lines Fionn Stevenson 28. Why green practitioners need to learn more about engineering and get political! Russell Horsey 29. Conclusions Jan Woudstra and Camilla Allen