Historical urban tree cover change and the potential implications for sustainable urban planning

Urban tree cover is an integral part of urban landscape that provides numerous ecosystem services for the well-being of residents.

Swedish local governments are aware of the importance of this resource and have ambitious plans for increasing tree cover in the future.

The aim of this research project is to look at the development over time, using historical aerial imagery and change detection, in order to inform the stakeholders on how the urban tree cover has changed in Swedish cities to provide them with a new understanding of urban development´s impact on the urban tree cover.

In the first stage, a new methodology for identifying urban tree cover from historical imagery will be developed and optimized.

In the second stage, this method will be automated and scaled up for a series of historical aerial imagery, spanning from 1960s onward and published in an open access web-based platform.

Lastly, webinar and workshops will be organized with participant from key stakeholders in the project, where the study results will be presented.

This will be followed up with a survey that will be analyzed using a qualitative approach and uncover the underlying reasons for tree cover change using local expert knowledge.

In summary, looking and evaluating past actions can lead to better inform future decision-making, and this project is the first of its kind in providing a comprehensive overview of the development of urban tree cover in Sweden while using a multidisciplinary approach.