Urban trees and sustainable cities

Abstract

Trees are indispensable element in urban environment to enhance quality of life and city sustainability in environment, economic and social dimension. Urban trees play an important role in sustainable city, but only limited studies have been conducted regarding relationship between urban trees and sustainable city. It is important to know perception of local citizens towards urban trees. This dissertation aims to investigate whether urban trees in Hong Kong are contributing to sustainable city from citizens‟ perspective, to provide insights for better planning, management and promotion so that urban trees can perform better in contribution to a sustainable Hong Kong. Questionnaire survey and interviews were conducted to find out citizens‟ perception and expectation on urban trees in Hong Kong, as well as ways to improve roles of urban trees play in a sustainable city. From the dissertation it is found that urban trees in Hong Kong can contribute to a sustainable city in environmental, economic and social dimension, as well as enhancing citizens‟ quality of life. But there are still room for improvement for the performance. Legislation, comprehensive planning, enhancement on tree management, as well as public campaign and publicity, are recommended to improve the roles played by urban trees in a sustainable Hong Kong. The results of this dissertation would be useful to assess whether existing urban tree planning, management and promotion are sufficient to satisfy Hong Kong citizens in the context of sustainable city.