Social benefits of trees in urban environments†

Abstract

People have a behavioral need for contact with trees in cities. One cause for the increase in wilderness recreation use and popularity of indoor and outdoor gardening is a basic desire for contact with vegetation. Trees can lend cities a dimension of sensory diversity, visual order and aesthetic pleasure that is lacking. There is a relationship between levels of park use, vandalism or property values in urban areas and their landscape character. These relationships have implications for the planting and preservation of trees in urban environments.