Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content
Home
    • Contact Panasonic
    • Save Page
    • Home
    • Green Living
    • Sustainability & Environment
    • The best (and easiest) thing your city can do for itself? Plant more trees
    Back to Resource Center

    The best (and easiest) thing your city can do for itself? Plant more trees

    • Contact us
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Linkedin
      • Email
    Green Living - Father and Son Planting Tree

    The best (and easiest) thing your city can do for itself? Plant more trees

    heather alberro

    Overbuilding and mass urbanization have shrunk green spaces around cities worldwide. This article by Co.Exist looks at the environmental and human benefits of urban greenery and what eco-responsible cities are doing to re-green communities. Sometimes the simplest solution to going green is right in front of us, literally.  

    Simple, beautiful, and beneficial to all. By greening our cities with street trees, urban parks, and community and rooftop gardens, we can keep ourselves cool amid rising temperatures, reverse the steady erosion of the rich tapestry of life on Earth, and foster happiness and social connection in the process.

    It is widely known that greenery in urban spaces helps improve city microclimates. Thanks to heat generated by traffic and industrial activity, as well as the spread of heat-trapping concrete buildings that have steadily replaced plant life, urban air temperature is often higher than in rural environments. Hotter cities compel urban denizens to opt for air conditioners in order to stay cool, which further strains energy demands and worsens the urban heat island effect.

    Empty brick road in the park

    Plants can help cool cities through the water that evaporates from their leaves when exposed to the sun’s rays, and by shading surfaces that otherwise might have absorbed heat. Research has found that on a sunny day, a single healthy tree can have the cooling power of more than ten air-conditioning units.

    Plants also help keep harmful pollutants such as microscopic particulate matter at bay through a complex process known as dry deposition, whereby particles penetrate and become trapped in the wax or cuticles of leaves. Although banning or at least restricting vehicle use in city centers is crucial, mass greening can further reduce pollution and keep cities cool in the increasingly scorching summers that lie ahead.

    Urban greenery wouldn’t just help lessen the impacts of climate change and improve air quality. Evidence from a range of disciplines has uncovered numerous social, psychological, and health benefits of human exposure to green spaces. These include stress and anxiety reduction, improved cognitive functioning, lowered risks of depression, and overall greater mental and physical wellbeing.

    Grandfather With Son And Grandson Having Fun In Park

    Others have shown how involvement in community gardening can increase social cohesion and social bonds among participants and the wider community, in addition to providing local and affordable food sources.

    The Japanese preventative healthcare practice of Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” is modeled on a recognition of the many benefits of immersion in natural spaces. We’re not yet sure why we seem happiest and healthiest when we’re surrounded by our fellow lifeforms. But the universality and antiquity of our appreciation for nature suggests that our biophilia may originate from the millions of years humans and plants spent co-evolving in close contact with each other.

    Young woman relaxing in park

    Perhaps most importantly, greening and rewilding our cities can offer vital refuges for rapidly vanishing biodiversity. Human socioeconomic activities, especially those of the world’s rich, have destroyed natural habitats, consumed vast tracts of forest, polluted waterways, and disrupted the seasonal rhythms on which life depends. In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, many species are increasingly finding themselves with nowhere to go.

    Urban rewilding can help the complex natural communities and processes that are essential for all life to flourish once again. For example, establishing wild meadows and native plant and tree communities provides pollinators and other threatened animals with new spaces to thrive, while creating spaces to reintroduce keystone species, whose presence is crucial for maintaining ecosystem diversity.

    Deer running across busy road

    Toward a thriving future

    The mass greening and rewilding of our cities is no novel or abstract ideal. It is already happening in many urban spaces around the world. The mayor of Paris has ambitious plans to “green” 100 hectares of the city by 2020. London mayor Sadiq Khan hopes to make London the world’s first “National Park City” through mass tree planting and park restoration, greening more than half of the capital by 2050.

    Singapore, a partner city in the Biophilic Cities Network, is a shining example of how to incorporate “nature” into building and city designs. The Parkroyal on Pickering Hotel, for instance, is shrouded in thickly forested terraces and sky gardens that are inhabited by local insects and birds.

    shutterstock_483433873.jpg

    More cities need to follow the lead of these forward-thinking designs and initiatives. Alongside these efforts, educational programs, such as Singapore’s Community in Nature initiative, could also be put in place to help the public learn about, respect, and appreciate wild spaces.

    Of course, urban greening alone will not be enough to meet the daunting challenges ahead. We also need to fundamentally transform our growth-oriented economies and massively reduce global inequality. But giving some new life to our cities would be a great start. And it wouldn’t just benefit people but, crucially, other species as well. This is their home, too, and they deserve a more viable future.

    Group of diversity people volunteer charity project

    Heather Alberro is an associate lecturer/PhD candidate in political ecology at Nottingham Trent University. This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

     

    This article was written by Heather Alberro from Co. Exist and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

    Related Posts

    Modern passive house with solar panels and white roof for energy efficiency.
    Homeowner Insights

    6 Key Benefits of Creating a Solar-Powered Home

    Has switching your home to solar power become a no-brainer?
    Learn more
    asian family with one child having fun in the woods
    Homeowner Insights

    Why you should unify your home energy system in 2021

    Purchasing the components of your solar & storage system from a single brand has its benefits.
    Learn more
    Sunset over solar panels
    Trends & Technology

    Solar-plus-storage poised to become more financially attractive, but seasonal solutions remain key

    The current and future state of solar power and energy storage in America.
    Learn more
    Father and son hiking through the mountain at sunrise
    Trends & Technology

    4 home renewable energy predictions in 2021

    Panasonic's Dan Glaser gives his residential renewable energy predictions and outlook for 2021.
    Learn more
    Wooden blocks with the word ROI and green arrow up. High level of business profitability. Return on investment, invested capital, rate. Success. Growth. Analytics. Report
    Financial & Incentives

    How quickly will your solar panels pay for themselves?

    Understanding payback period and return on investment of your solar panel purchase.
    Learn more
    Businesswomen discussing by table in office
    Financial & Incentives

    How to accelerate solar adoption for the underserved

    As solar panels have become more affordable, there's no reason home solar has to be exclusive to upper income households.
    Learn more
    Caucasian family sitting in a teepee, reading stories with the flashlight in dark room with toys and pillows. Caucasian models. Home comfort, family, love, Christmas holidays, storytelling time.
    Homeowner Insights

    How Homeowners Can Prepare For Rolling Blackouts

    Common questions and answers about rolling blackouts and solar-powered homes.
    Learn more
    Older female farmer with granddaughter
    Sustainability & Environment

    Mayors unveil $60B plan to support Midwest energy transition

    As fossil fuel use continues to decline, Midwest officials want to build on the green movement foundation.
    Learn more
    Buildings & Roof Tops Of Bisbee, Arizona
    Trends & Technology

    A $100 million investment will fund the largest ‘virtual power plant’ in the U.S.

    Combining innovative thinking and technology, companies are redefining how energy can be saved, re-distributed and consumed more efficiently.
    Learn more
    Brush Fire Threatening Homes
    Trends & Technology

    Why are Home Batteries Becoming so Popular?

    More homeowners are choosing to install battery storage. Here are the reasons behind the growth.
    Learn more
    Happy mother talking to her baby while working at home. unpublished
    Financial & Incentives

    Financing Renewable Energy: It's Easier Than You Think

    As demand for home batteries surges, new financing options provide greater flexibility for homeowners.
    Learn more
    Foreman shows house design plans
    Homeowner Insights

    What to Expect During Your Solar Panel Installation

    Expert installers: Here's how we prepare your home for a successful solar installation.
    Learn more
    Back to Trends
     

    Thank you for your submission. A Panasonic representative will contact you.

    • About Us
    • News
    • Careers
    • Investor Relations
    • Social Impact
    • Contact Us
    • Do Not Sell My Data

    Get the Latest on Panasonic Trends

    Thanks for signing up!

    Connect with us

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Linkedin
    • Instagram Link
    • Youtube

    Select Country/Language

    • United States - English
    • Canada - English
    • Canada - Français
    © 2020 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All Rights Reserved.
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms
    • Panasonic Global
    • Consumer
    • Industrial
    Reviewed by Accessible 360
    Reviewed by Accessible 360