Numeric trees and measurable ecosystem services: threats and opportunities for sustainable urban planning

Tree valuation is increasingly mainstreamed as a rigid tool to capture values of ecosystem services (ES) in urban planning and decision-making.

This project responds to concerns of risks of the effect of translating urban nature into quantitative and monetary measures, challenges in applying generic metrics for place specific governance, and to the need to analyse varied interpretations and outcomes of tree valuation in urban planning and management.

The aim is to scrutinise if valuation of urban trees result in more sustainable planning and decision-making, or if such tools merely work to legitimise existing status quo.

By following a critical social science approach, we uncover the power relations in ES valuation and investigate the i-Tree tool as a calculative device.

The project traces the mechanisms and steps involved in the quantification and monetisation of trees, outlines the network and interactions between scientists, consultancies, planners and developers engaged with valuation, and analyses the interpretations and outcomes of tree valuation in Swedish cities.

It employs desk studies and document analysis, participant observations and semi-structured interviews.

The network of actors including tree officials, the i-Tree architects, planners and commissioned consultants will support the co-creation of knowledge to outline risks and opportunities with valuation. Tangible guidelines will be provided for valuation of trees in sustainable planning and decision making.