Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ufug

Urban forest values in Canada: Views of citizens in Calgary and Halifax

Shawna C. Peckham , Peter N. Duinker, Camilo Ordnez

Dalhousie University, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, 6100 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Keywords:
Environmental psychology
Forest management
Landscape preference
Street trees
Urban parks
Urban planning

a b s t r a c t
A signicant component of the urban ecosystem is the urban forest. It is also the quintessential meeting
point of culture and nature, so it is critical to incorporate values-based approaches to managing them. The
values that really count are those of urban citizens. A novel qualitative method was used to determine
what qualities of the urban forest are valued by citizens of Calgary, Alberta, and Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada. These values were compared with those reported in the literature to reveal that citizens value
the urban forests mostly for their non-material benets. Specically, urban forests contribute to human
emotional, intellectual, and moral fullment.
2013 Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Introduction
Robust approaches to sustainable forest management (e.g.,
Canadian Standards Association, 2009) call for early and explicit
identication of the diverse values to be satised through the management system. In this context, values are dened simply as those
aspects of the forest that are considered important to manage for.
Thus, values become embedded in objectives that prescribe the
desired outcomes of management.
Of course, a key question is whose values dominate when alternative management strategies are evaluated and one is chosen
for implementation. Contemporary forest-management regimes in
countries like Canada demand that diverse stakeholders, including the general populace of an area, be canvassed for, among other
things, their expression of values to be satised in relation to a
specic forest. Participatory processes to help steer management
directions for timber-producing forests in Canada have become
standard practice (Duinker, 1998; Beckley et al., 2006). Identication of values usually takes place as part of these processes. One
outcome of successful values elicitation is that management priorities can be aligned better with values of diverse stakeholders
something considered quite important when the forest asset is in
public ownership rather than being aligned with the values of
those with professional expertise such as government and industrial forest managers.
Whether stakeholder values are simply assumed by forest managers or casually elicited as part of the participatory exercises
implemented during planning, one might ask whether a more systematic approach to values elicitation, using research protocols

Corresponding author at: Dalhouise University, SRES, 6100 University Avenue,

Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4R2. Tel.: +1 902 494 3632.
E-mail address: shawna.peckham@dal.ca (S.C. Peckham).
1618-8667/$ see front matter 2013 Published by Elsevier GmbH.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2013.01.001

designed by social scientists, would yield a different value set, or at

least a value set with different priorities. This could be especially
important when a forest has any kind of special characteristics. For
example, if old-growth forest is to be managed, what value priorities might appropriately guide such management? Our research
(Moyer et al., 2008, 2010; Owen et al., 2009) showed that citizens
values associated with old-growth forests have decidedly different
emphases than values associated with more normal forests.
The study reported here was motivated by this same issue in
the context of urban forests: what are the values that drive their
management regimes? Put more sharply, are urban-forest management regimes guided by any kind of systematic elicitation of
urban residents values? If one were to undertake such a systematic elicitation, would the values align with the values that drive
contemporary urban-forest management in Canadas cities? Urban
forest management plans in Canada today refer to an urban management approach of fullling values (e.g. City of Victoria, 2009)
with scant evidence of formal values-elicitation research in support
of their claims, especially in relation to specic urban forests.
A broad canvassing of the scholarly literature will yield a
plethora of values (or benets, or services, or functions, all of which
we consider to be synonymous with value in this paper) that
researchers have shown to be associated with urban forests (see
Table 1). Using as groupings the familiar foundational elements of
sustainable development, one can nd research identifying ecological values (e.g., air ltration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity
conservation, stormwater attenuation, temperature amelioration),
economic values (e.g., enhancement of property values, energy
conservation, tourism promotion), and social (including psychological) values (e.g., recreation, enhancement of community cohesion,
enhancement of physical and mental health, sense of place, general human well-being). Urban forest research of urban forest
management and planning gives predominance to ecological and
economic values (e.g. Seamans, 2012), while social values are not

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

155

Table 1
A comprehensive listing of urban forest values from the literature. Values listed below are summarized in Nowak and Dwyer (2007) with the exception of those values
followed in another author(s) and publication year.
Category

Environmental

Value
Atmospheric pollution captured through dry deposition and increase in air quality
Phytoremediation of brownelds
Regulation of solar radiation into urban infrastructure
Windbreaking
Moderation of microclimatic urban environment
Lowering air temperature through evapotranspiration
Reduction of energy costs for heating and cooling grey
infrastructure
Direct carbon sequestration
Carbon emissions
Controlling carbon dioxide emissions by cooling effect
Reduction of the rate and volume of storm water
runoff (increase in rainwater detention)
Regulation of hydrological cycle
Reduction of damage caused by ooding
Regulation of water quality problems
Lowering noise levels
Harbouring wildlife
Biodiversity
Promoting conservation, site for environmental
education (Adams, 1994)
Provision of a tranquil and healthy environment
Inuencing the behaviour and performance of learners
Privacy refuges
Emotional and spiritual benets: strong feeling of
attachment to particular places and trees
Enhancing attractiveness of cities
Blocking of undesirable views
Softening of the urban hardscape (e.g., colours, shapes,
textures, sounds and feelings) (Smardon, 1988)
Aesthetic pleasure from the thriving of wildlife
(Smardon, 1988)

Positive psychological effects

Social

Aesthetic quality

Recreational spaces for community

Provision of research sites for researchers (McDonnell et al., 1997)
Increase in civic values and stronger sense of community
Improved human health (Maas et al., 2006, 2009) and faster recovery from illness
Reduction of crimes and fear of crime (Kuo and Sullivan, 2001)
Work and labour from tree-caretaking

Economic

Increase of real estate values: residential and commercial aesthetics

Higher economic activity in tree-covered areas
Asset for tourism (Baines, 2000)
Direct provision of timber (Baines, 2000)
Recreational opportunities
Savings on infrastructure due to environmental
services (McPherson et al., 1999; Girling and
Kellett, 2002)

well understood beyond aesthetic benets. If, using a systematic

elicitation, urban residents are asked about their values in relation
to trees in the city, will the results of such research conform to the
priority values evident in urban-forest management plans? With
minimal prompting and guidance, but with opportunity to experience a variety of urban-forest settings during values elicitation,
we asked urban residents to tell us their thoughts about various
urban landscapes. Our purpose is therefore to report the ndings
of qualitative research into citizens values related to urban forests
in two Canadian cities: Calgary, Alberta, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Urban forests
There are differences of opinion between nations and experts
concerning the concepts and denitions of urban forests that
evolved from differing historical relationships with trees and forest
management. There is general agreement, however, that the urban
forest encompasses all natural and planted trees (including individual trees, as well as small groups of trees and larger stands) situated
in or near urban areas (Konijnendijk et al., 2005). Established on
both private and public lands, each urban forest is unique and is, in
essence, the dominant feature of most cities living landscape.
Urban forests differ from hinterland forests in a number of ways.
Urban forests exhibit a patchy forest structure with high spatial

Carbon dioxide sequestration

Air pollutant removal
Draining infrastructure

heterogeneity and often consist of both human-made landscapes

and remnant naturalized areas (Nowak et al., 2001). Species compositions of urban forests are also generally highly variable. Urban
forests may be composed of only a few species of trees or may contain a tremendous diversity of native and non-native tree species.
Urban forests are comprised of trees of various ages and health
levels.
It is perhaps the intensity and intricacy of humanforest interactions that truly distinguishes the urban forest. Trees within the
urban environment are not only inuenced by their biophysical
environment but are strongly interconnected with human activities
and articial infrastructure. While urban forests make important
contributions to livable and attractive cities, they may also affect
peoples lives negatively (e.g., as places of fear; Jorgensen et al.,
2007).

Forest values
In the social sciences, values are generally dened based on the
inuential work of Rokeach (1973). He described values as cultural
ideas and judgements about what is desirable, right and appropriate. In the broadest sense, values emerge from social dialogue
and are whatever is important to us (Moyer et al., 2008). In this
research project, the term values will be used to describe both held

156

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

Table 2
Participant characteristics by age, sex and location.
Age (yr)

City
Calgary
Female

1630
3145
4659
60+
Total

Halifax
Male

Total

Female

Male

Female

Male

8
6
2
5

7
7
4
2

10
6
3
8

10
6
2
3

18
12
5
13

17
13
6
5

21

20

27

21

48

41

values (ethical principles or end states) and assigned values (relative worth or preference of an object) (Rokeach, 1973; Brown,
1984). In a values-based approach to natural resource management,
they are the characteristics or qualities we declare important to
sustain (Ordonez and Duinker, 2010).
Methods
This project used a mixed-method approach to data collection,
where both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered but
priority was given to the former. Qualitative approaches are more
suitable for exploring values because they are grounded in the context of peoples lived experiences (Burgess et al., 1988). For this
study, the desire was to enable participants to engage all of their
senses (i.e., sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste) actively during
visits to several urban landscapes.
We designed fourteen one-day eld tours in Calgary, AB, and
Halifax, NS (six in Calgary and eight in Halifax), following methods adapted from Owen et al. (2009). All the tours followed the
same procedures and occurred during the summer months of June
through September 2009 on both weekends and weekdays. The
research day consisted of an initial survey of participants, a tour to
six urban open spaces, diary writing, and an afternoon focus-group
discussion.
Urban residents in each city were recruited to participate in the
project using various techniques including online advertisements,
notices posted in high-trafc locations, local radio interviews,
and recruitment through social networks. The advertisements and
interviews explained that the purpose of the study was to gather
citizens thoughts on urban outdoor landscapes and did not make
any references to trees or urban forests. Still, since participants
were self-selected and trees are often an important component of
outdoor landscapes, it must be recognized that participants were
likely to have greater sensitivity to the subject. In total, 89 citizens
from a diverse range of backgrounds (i.e., age, education, urban vs.
rural upbringing, number of years they have lived in city, number of
years they have lived in Canada) agreed to participate in a day-long
session (Table 2). Most respondents (68%) heard about the project
through a friend and were university educated. Sixty-three percent
held at least one or more degree.
Field sites
With a population of 1.1 million, Calgary is the largest city in
the prairie province of Alberta. In general, Calgarys climate is semiarid, so groves of trees occur naturally only along the river valleys
and on the western outskirts of the city. Precipitation decreases
somewhat from west to east. Consequently, forest patches give way
to treeless grassland around the eastern city limit. Halifax Regional
Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia, is located on the shores of the
Atlantic Ocean. Some 400,000 people live in the municipality but
the population is heavily concentrated in an urban core settled
around the Halifax Harbour. Surrounding ocean currents create a

moist climate which supports a dense combination of mixed Acadian and coniferous forests as well as wetlands.
The urban sites chosen for the study represented the range and
diversity of landscapes one typically nds in Canadian cities. All
locations contained trees of various ages, species, densities and
health conditions. The projects eld sites included: (1) a residential street lined with mature trees, (2) a commercial streetscape
with very few trees, (3) an athletic eld with treed perimeter, (4)
a forested park, (5) a naturalized schoolyard, and (6) a botanical
garden (Table 3 and Fig. 1).
Data collection
Diaries distributed to participants at the beginning of the
research day were used to explore the ways in which respondents read urban landscapes and interpret their meaning. PART A
of the diary consisted of both closed and open-ended questions to
gather information on participants opinions and usage of urban
open spaces. PART B was divided by eld site and contained only a
few prompting questions related to the research topic. Participants
were specically asked how frequently they visit the site, why they
visit, and if and why the location is important. Each site visit lasted
15 min during which each participant observed the landscape and
recorded her or his individual reections in her or his own words.
The participants answered the question, What reections, observations, and feelings do you have about this place? Respondents
were asked to refrain from speaking to each other during this personal time. Given the possibility that the participants views may
shift during the research process, participants were asked to make
concluding remarks in PART C of the diary regarding which site they
identied with most, whether they believe their views changed
through the research activities, and if they believe their upbringing
inuences their impressions or feelings regarding treed landscapes.
Focus-group discussions, moderated by the lead author, provided further understanding of individuals thoughts and feelings
while also allowing collective thought processes to occur. Sharing
personal views within the discussion group creates an opportunity
for individuals to get in touch with their deeper feelings and concerns, while simultaneously being exposed to others viewpoints.
The discussion was in essence a review of the morning tour and
many participants referred to their diaries while they shared their
thoughts and opinions about each site. With the permission of the
group members, each focus group was audio-recorded and later
transcribed.
All diary and focus-group transcripts were coded by the lead
author into theme areas using NVivo8, a qualitative software
package (QSR International Pty Ltd, 2008). Particular attention was
paid to peoples accounts of why they felt the particular types of
treed landscapes were important to them or their community. A
list of common topics, themes and concepts was compiled and
later organized into more general value classications. Results from
closed questions in PART A (including demographic information)
were processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version
16.0 (SPSS Inc., 2007). These results were later cross-referenced
with other diary data and focus-group material within NVivo8 to
establish relationships and to make comparisons. Key values were
identied by frequency of mention (i.e., the number of times a value
was mentioned by participants) and used to create major and minor
sub-themes and categories.
Results
Participants diverse list of urban forest values was organized
in a table format under the broad groupings of social, environmental (or ecological), and economic values (Table 4). These

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

157

Table 3
Field tour sites in Calgary, AB and Halifax, NS. The numbers in brackets indicates the chronological order of visit.
Site type

Calgary location

Halifax location

Mature tree-lined street

Commercial streetscape
Athletic eld
Forested natural park
Naturalized schoolyard
Botanical garden

(1) 7th Avenue and 2nd St, N

(2) Centre Street, N
(3) Riley Park
(4) Weaselhead Natural Area
(5) Altadore Elementary School
(6) Readers Rock Garden

(1) Walnut Street

(2) Quinpool Road
(3) North Commons
(4) Point Pleasant Park
(6) Dalhousie University
(5) Public Gardens

Fig. 1. Field sites in Halifax, NS and Calgary, AB: (1) mature tree-lined streets, (2) commercial streetscapes, (3) athletic elds, (4) forest parks, (5) naturalized schoolyards,
and (6) botanical gardens.

groupings have been used here because they are so frequently

employed to describe the foundational elements of sustainable development. Additionally, each value has a corresponding
frequency-of-mention class (i.e., low, moderate and high) (see Fig. 2
for distribution of frequency of mention). Values with a high frequency of mention (e.g., >100 times) were interpreted to be values
more commonly shared among a wide range of people relative to
values mentioned less frequently.
Social values
The two most striking themes to emerge from this investigation are the diverse range of aesthetic values associated with urban
700

nature and the urban forest as a tranquil escape for improved health
and well-being. These concepts were not only the most frequently
mentioned but were also closely interrelated. The multitude of aesthetic qualities that participants associated with the urban forest
appeared to assist people to achieve positive psychological states.
Naturalness was a frequently mentioned and important characteristic of urban trees, as this Halifax woman commented:
I appreciate the naturalness of them. Feel they are necessary
to city dwellers experience in particular. The quality of naturalness created a softness that people related to a friendlier,
more relaxed and inviting atmosphere and provided an antithesis
to or counterbalance for the hard, angular, built environment characterizing most cities. For example, this Calgary man
commented:
I personally feel that Center Street could be as beautiful and as
nice to spend time in as the rst street [tree-lined street] that
we went to, it would be softer, it would help society and the city.
It has this cold, kind of sterile feel. It is not inviting.

600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Fig. 2. Distribution of frequency of mention.

The sense of naturalness provided by urban trees was also

closely associated with respondents feelings of stability, connection to nature, and bioregional identity.
Citizens valued urban forests because they offered diversity and
variety in form and function within the urban environment (e.g.,

158

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

mature tree-lined streets are different in form than the naturalized

schoolyards) as well as offered a variety of experiences over time.
They attributed this to the fact that the urban forest is part of a
dynamic system wherein trees grow, change with the seasons, and
die, to be replaced eventually by new growth. This partly explains
why respondents appreciated densely forested parks as stimulating
places that fascinated, energized and motivated, as this Calgary man
remarked: This is the kind of place you can just go and wander
and discover new things, a broken log, a cool inlet, etc. I like the
sense of discovery. These more-natural landscapes also inspired
respondents creativity, imagination, and curiosity.
Respondents derived pleasure from seeing many shades of
green and often spoke of their appreciation of vistas overlooking

forested parks or views of green from ofce or home windows.

Commuting through the city, they preferred using areas with trees
or other green vegetation over transportation corridors dominated
by concrete (e.g., commercial streetscapes). Participants felt less
distracted and mindful in the presence of large trees, as this Halifax
woman explained: It [the forested park] makes one want to sit and
ponder, to focus on the moment. Many respondents commented
that cars appeared to travel at slower speeds on the mature-tree
lined streets, leading them to feel safer.
Perhaps most surprising was the high frequency with which
participants mentioned sounds specically related to trees. They
described their delight in hearing tree leaves rustling in the wind
and the sounds of birds calling above their heads, as one Halifax

Table 4
Urban forest values in Calgary, AB and Halifax, NS. Frequency of mention: white = low (149), grey = moderate (5099), black = high (100450).

Value category
Social

Value

Aesthetics

Frequency
Artistic expression
Barrier, buffer
Beauty
Colour
Dimension
Grace
Naturalness
Nature-infrastructure balance
Pattern
Quality of light
Shade
Large, grandeur
Size and scale
Small
Smell
Fresh
Quiet
Leaves in the wind
Sounds
Birds
Animals
Texture
Softness
Variety
Shape, form
Views, vistas
Wind break
Ecological

Environmental impact

consciousness

Nature appreciation

Educational

Accessible
Nature experience

Interactive
Native flora and fauna

Harmony
Diversity acceptance
Equity
Moral

Intrinsic

Distribution, access
Future generations
Self limit, restraint

Natural treasure
Respect
Stewardship
Psychological

Cared for, clean

Affection
Connection to nature
Dynamics
Enjoyment
Friendliness, welcome
Freedom
Hope
Humility

Escape, refuge
Choice

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

159

Table 4 (Continued)
Value category

Mental
Reflection
Romance
Comfort

Sense of place

Peacefulness
Solitude
Spiritual

Stimulating

Mental health

Enclosed, surrounding
Safety
Shelter, protection
Stability
Character
Familiarity
Home
Landmark, icon
Slower pace

Awe, fascination
Creativity, imagination
Curiosity, exploration
Inspiration, motivation
Variability

Community
Family
Cultural
Memory
Good place to live
Recreation
Air quality

Biodiversity
Environmental

Air purification, freshness

Oxygen production
Diversity
Habitat, wildlife
Nature preservation

Carbon storage
Ecological processes
Aliveness
Human life-support
Temperature amelioration

Economic

History
Memorial
Nostalgia
Reminiscent
Options

Clean water
Nutrient cycles
Growth

Lower health care expenditures

Increased real estate values
Tourism

woman remarked: I love that sound, the shimmering of the leaves

and I love that I can hear the chickadees. I feel a part of it all, good,
happy, relaxed. These sounds produced a sensory experience that
was calming and peaceful, leading to a reective state and a feeling
of ease and of connectivity to nature. Additionally, large or dense
stands of trees created a physical and psychological buffer from the
hustle and bustle, resulting in a sense of freedom from the usual
busyness of the city. A Halifax woman explained the role the urban
forest plays in her life: My reason for coming to a place like this
is, in a way, something I do to escape the hectic mayhem of the
city. Participants valued urban landscapes where trees enclosed
or surrounded them because these were perceived to be welcoming and quieter, and provided them with much needed solitude and
separation from a hectic urban environment. Overarching branches
of the tree canopy were often associated with respondents feelings

of being sheltered and protected, as this Halifax man commented:

[T]he tree-lined street kind of closed over you and kind of hugged
you.
Respondents often described landscapes with numerous, large,
healthy trees as good places to live because they made a place feel
established and stable, cared for, safe, and imbued with character.
Big, old trees also connected many respondents to the past as they
considered what changes may have occurred within the community during the trees lifetime, and as they reminisced about playing
around large trees as children. Because of this connection to the
past, many citizens felt nostalgic during visits to the mature treelined streets and forested parks. A Halifax woman over 60 years of
age described her familys weekend outing: [W]e used to go week
after week and take a picnic lunch, we could not afford to eat out, we
never even thought about eating out, and just spent practically all

160

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

of Sunday there. In contrast, respondents remarked that a lack of

trees or the presence of unhealthy trees, such as on the commercial
streetscapes, made the locations feel sterile, unsafe, and neglected
by urban society.
Participants recognized many forested sites as important local
historical landmarks, memorials, and cultural experiences, adding
that important cultural events still take place there. Some participants identied specic forested landscapes as extraordinarily
important because so much of their personal history, from early
childhood to old age, had unfolded in these locations. Two participants, who before the research day had never met, chose the
forested park in Halifax as the nal resting place for their family
members ashes despite municipal by-laws prohibiting this activity.
There were over 400 references to the importance of the urban
forest for recreation. The most valued urban landscapes were those
that offered the greatest diversity of activities and were close to
home. For example, athletic elds were regarded as less attractive
sites for recreation than more densely forested landscapes because,
while they were excellent for formal sport (e.g., soccer, baseball,
etc.), they prevented so many other social activities (e.g., a quiet
walk with a friend) from taking place around the area. Participants recognized that people in general prefer different types of
recreational activities at different stages of their lives, such as the
senior-aged participants who were no longer interested in participating in sports such as football or soccer. Thus, the provision of
various forms of urban forest conditions for different members of
society was important.
Overall, respondents described that the large forested parks
(Weaselhead and Point Pleasant Park) provided more opportunities
to engage in a diverse range of both passive and active recreation, as is illustrated by this Calgary respondents diary entry:
FREEDOM! So much to do in a place like this. Fly kite, bike,
hike, picnic, birding, meditate, canoe. Did I mention freedom?
Most city forests are primarily used for walking, running or biking, but many respondents also enjoy opportunities to geo-cache,
picnic, read, or pause for reection. These citizens felt that children should have access to a variety of safe outdoor environments
for play and exploration. The varied topography and diversity of
plants within densely treed urban landscapes were pointed out
as allowing for more imaginative play and adventure, as a Calgary woman commented: This place makes me feel like I am in
a storybook!
Athletic parks, forested parks, and botanical gardens played an
important role in the lives of these urbanites as places to gather,
meet, and socialize. Some participants even enjoy visiting these
sites to sit and observe other people. Respondents also highlighted
the value of these landscapes for isolated members of their community, such as seniors and mothers of young children, because
they provide safe places to get out of the home and be with others. Forested parks in particular were viewed as quality sites for
families to spend time together.
For participants, spending time in nature is tremendously
important and 94% of them rely on local forested parks for nearby
access to nature experiences. As mentioned above, respondents
perceived naturalized forested areas within the city as providing a more stimulating, non-controlled environment where they
felt free to interact and engage with natural elements. Within
these places, many respondents felt better able to gain an experiential sense of oneness with the natural world, which some
believed can lead to both an awareness and appreciation of
ecological systems or to develop an ecological consciousness, particularly in children. Equally important, a number of participants
believed that this intimate contact with nature allowed them to
observe directly how their behaviours affected the local environment and that this information encouraged better personal

decision-making regarding the environment, as this Calgary

woman explained:
[T]hat is why I think that [naturalized schoolyards] are so important because they give kids the idea of what the real world is like,
that there are animals and seeing how things grow and things
change and how you can affect that process.
Some participants comments demonstrated that they valued
any natural elements within the urban environment for the simple fact of its existence. Others noted that the well-cared for and
popular forested parks were unique, special places or natural treasures within their city. Many urban citizens believed that sparsely
planted, unhealthy trees, litter, and a lack of well-maintained
walking trails or benches represented a lack of responsibility,
respect, and communal care of the natural environment. On
the contrary, if the landscape contained robust, old trees and
a diversity of vegetation, then many participants thought that
the site symbolized acceptance, respect, and appreciation for the
natural world and were essentially physical representations of
a balanced humannature relationship, as this Halifax woman
explained: They [forested parks] are more representative of people trying to work with nature rather than against it. This
concept is also reected in comments from this Calgary participant:
My most awe feeling and connection to nature was at the
mature tree-lined street. The mixture of human architecture and
nature made for a very cool effect. I really felt that nature and
humanity were living beside each other in peace.
Environmental values
Respondents acknowledged that the urban forest is important
for ecological life-support. However, overall this value category
was mentioned with much less frequency than other urban-forest
benets. Additionally, not all forms of the urban forest were
recognized equally as contributing to ecological life-support functions. For example, citizens recognized the contribution urban
trees make to improving air quality, providing shade, and creating habitat for birds yet only naturalized forest stands (as opposed
to street plantings) were valued for preserving nature, cycling
nutrients, providing biodiversity, maintaining ecological processes
and services, and creating habitat for other wildlife. The one
exception is that the botanical gardens were also appreciated
for their biodiversity, particularly their plant diversity. Interestingly, only one Halifax respondent among all the participants
in either city spoke about the value of urban trees as carbon
sinks.
Economic values
Few participants mentioned economic values of the urban forest. Only seven references were made by Calgary and Halifax
participants to increased property values for urban real estate containing healthy trees or located nearby a forested park. Urban trees
as a tourist attraction, such as trees in a botanical garden, elicited
fewer than ten references. A signicantly higher number of respondents described the importance of the urban forest for improving
citizens health which can lower local health-care expenditures, as
this Calgary man explained:
Treed cities are extremely important. They give the people a
place to play, exercise, relax, enjoy each others company away
from the hustle and bustle. Helps keep them healthy and out of
the hospitals. Probably keep my taxes down if people got out
more and met the trees.

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

Discussion
Comparing the results of this investigation with our literature
review (Table 1) reveals a discrepancy in both the type and number
of benets categorized under economic and ecological life-support.
Our respondents frequently identied wildlife, biodiversity, and air
quality as important forest attributes, yet no participant mentioned
ecological life-support values related to regulation of the hydrological cycle or moderation of the urban microclimate. Similarly,
reduced health-care costs, increased tourism, and increased real
estate values were recognized, even if infrequently, as economic
benets of urban forests yet timber provision or the economic savings incurred through removal of air pollution, CO2 sequestration,
and reduced heating and cooling costs were never mentioned by
this studys participants. This may be due to the fact that many
people simply do not bring these benets of urban trees to the forefront of their minds when unprompted to do so, or are unaware of
the diversity of economic benets derived from city trees or the
role urban forests play in ecosystem functioning (Xu and Bengston,
1997; Kellert, 2005). We speculate that this may also be the case for
two other values not mentioned by participants in this project but
which were identied in the literature: (1) research sites for scientic study, and (2) work and labour derived from tree-caretaking.
What people really expressed appreciation for in relation to
urban forests are the aesthetic, psychological, and moral benets provided by nearby access to nature. This contact with natural
systems greatly affected urban citizens physical and mental wellbeing and while this may not be new knowledge, we suggest that
these values are under-appreciated in urban forest master plans
and management programmes. The research method used in this
project (i.e., a diary format) provided a highly rened and detailed
catalogue of urban forest qualities that people valued in their city,
and reveals that a strong relationship exists between these multisensory qualities and positive effects on participants psychological
states.
The psychological benets of nature experiences within cities
are reasonably well studied (Ulrich, 1984; Chiesura, 2004; Herzog
and Strevey, 2008; Konijnendijk, 2008), mostly noting that urban
forests enhance human well-being. Urban forests also offer a contrast to dense urbanization and visually block or soften the urban
hardscape. Thus, urban forests provide a welcome reprieve from
controlled city environments. The naturalness of urban trees and
the sounds associated with trees also contributed to peoples ability
to sense a connectedness to nature, which can lead to development
of an ecological consciousness (Peckham, 2011). Bunce and Desfor
(2007) suggested that natural elements like urban trees are valued because of what they are in themselves, societal imageries of
the non-human environment. This projects ndings also demonstrate that urban residents endow the urban forest with rich social,
educational, and moral meaning.
The meanings assigned to urban forests at large are somewhat
unique from person to person. For participants in this study, treed
landscapes such as forested parks, naturalized parks, and treelined streets represented nature conservation, human coexistence
with nature, environmental stewardship, and an opportunity to
gain awareness of natural processes, cycles, and seasonal change.
Forested parks were also signicant to many of this studys
participants as places of memorial and memory. Our literature
review (Table 1) highlights the contributions urban forests make
to increasing civic values and stronger sense of community (Coley
et al., 1997; Kuo and Sullivan, 2001), as well as the emotional and
spiritual benets derived from feelings of attachment to particular places and trees (Dwyer et al., 1991; Chiesura, 2004). However,
there appears to be a lack of recognition of urban forests as places
for learning about nature, or the contribution urban trees make
towards enhancing environmental values.

161

Conversely, many respondents associated uneven tree distribution throughout their city of residence, a lack of species diversity,
and unhealthy or uncared-for trees on streetscapes as characteristics of the urban forest that underlined social pathologies and
disparities. This nding is similar to urban forest research conducted by Heynen et al. (2006). Urban forestry programmes need to
respond to contemporary social issues such as disparate access to
a healthy urban forest among community groups. To address these
issues, the demands and ideas held by an increasingly multicultural urban population, as well as other marginalized groups such
as women, the disabled, the elderly, and the unemployed, need to
be better understood and considered during the planning process
(Johnston and Shimada, 2004).
Urban trees were mostly valued by respondents because they
provided peacefulness, comfort, escape, beauty, naturalness, a connection to nature, biodiversity, a sense of history, and a preferred
environment for family and community. This nding that people
mention more frequently the less-tangible values than they do
the more tangible (material) values is congruent with results of
research by Sommer et al. (1990), Schroeder and Ruffolo (1996)
and Schroeder et al. (2006).
The implications of these results on the sustainable management of urban forests are important. To be successful, sustainable
urban forest management must reect urban societys values which
essentially strike at the heart of want we want and what we believe
is important (Ordonez and Duinker, 2010). Focusing on a narrow
range of physical and material benets of the urban forest betrays a
lack of appreciation of other values of urban trees that are independent of human material interests, such as love of nature, reverence
of its beauty, or being inspired by its spiritual qualities. Our research
conrms that urban trees, as citizens understand the trees through
their senses and knowledge-building processes, help improve personal outlooks, attitudes, and senses of well-being. As revealed by
citizen expression in our data, the social values of urban trees are
foremost on peoples minds.
Urban forests can be carefully developed and shaped to promote
harmonious urban ecosystems, thus accommodating a diversity of
desirable social, environmental, and economic values. This must
occur, however, in close collaboration with those who are the
main users of urban forests city dwellers. We acknowledge that
our qualitative approach has limitations, such as a likely selfselection bias, and the fact that the considerable time and expense
involved in touring participants may discourage municipal tree
agencies from implementing this approach. However, this project
was funded by a federal granting council and implemented by
university researchers, so municipal tree agencies could partner
with the research community to reduce costs of acquiring such
data. Qualitative methods such as those employed in this research
provide in-depth information regarding how people perceive the
environment whilst directly experiencing it.
This study created additional empirical insight into the nonmaterial values associated with two Canadian urban forests. While
social values may present greater measurement challenges than
do environmental and economic values, they are undeniably and
profoundly important in our society (Xu and Bengston, 1997;
Johnston and Shimada, 2004). In our view, researchers, urbanforest professionals, and policy-makers need to balance their
hyper-attentiveness to the environmental and economic benets
of urban forests with careful and considerate attention to the social
values that urban citizens have at the forefront of their minds. We
believe that it is not enough simply to invite citizens into meeting
rooms to look at and respond to professionally developed plans for
urban-forest development. Much deeper insight into the ways that
urban residents appreciate the trees around them is required, and
that can only come from values-elicitation research. Such research
is best undertaken in the context of the urban outdoors, where the

162

S.C. Peckham et al. / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12 (2013) 154162

trees grow, rather than the meeting hall. Only when all parties celebrate together the rich and diverse ways in which urban residents
value the trees in the city can their management follow a pathway
towards sustainability.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge nancial support for the project from the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and
give a special thanks to all the research participants for giving their
time and energy to provide personal thoughts and feelings.
References
Adams, L.W., 1994. In our own backyard: conserving urban wildlife. Journal of
Forestry 92, 2425.
Baines, C., 2000. A forest of other issues. Landscape Design 294, 4647.
Beckley, T.M., Parkins, J.R., Sheppard, S.R.J., 2006. Public Participation in Sustainable Forest Management: A Reference Guide. Sustainable Forest Management
Network, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
Brown, T., 1984. The concept of value in resource allocation. Land Economics 60,
231246.
Bunce, S., Desfor, G., 2007. Introduction to Political ecologies of urban waterfront
transformations. Cities 24 (4), 251258.
Burgess, J., Harrison, C.M., Limb, M., 1988. People, parks and the urban green: a study
of popular meanings and values for open spaces in the city. Urban Studies 25,
455473.
Canadian Standards Association, 2009. Sustainable Forest Management. Z809-08.
Canadian Standards Association, Mississauga, ON.
Coley, R.L., Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C., 1997. Where does community grow? The social
context created by nature in urban public housing. Environment and Behavior
29, 468492.
Chiesura, A., 2004. The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landscape and
Urban Planning 68 (1), 129138.
Duinker, P.N., 1998. Public participations promising progress: advances in forest
decision-making in Canada. Commonwealth Forestry Review 77 (2), 107112.
Dwyer, J.F., Schroeder, H.W., Gobster, P.H., 1991. The signicance of urban trees and
forests: toward a deeper understanding of values. Journal of Arboriculture 17
(10), 276284.
Girling, C., Kellett, R., 2002. Comparing stormwater impacts and costs on three
neighborhood plan types. Landscape Journal 21 (1), 100.
Herzog, T.R., Strevey, S.J., 2008. Contact with nature, sense of humor, and psychological well-being. Environment and Behavior 40 (6), 747776.
Heynen, N., Perkins, H.A., Roy, P., 2006. The political ecology of uneven urban
green space: the impact of political economy on race and ethnicity in producing environmental inequality in Milwaukee. Urban Affairs Review 42 (1),
325.
Johnston, M., Shimada, L.D., 2004. Urban forestry in a multicultural society. Journal
of Arboriculture 30 (3), 185191.
Jorgensen, A., Hitmough, J., Dunnett, N., 2007. Woodland as a setting for housingappreciation and fear and the contribution to residential satisfaction and place
identity in Warrington New Town, UK. Landscape and Urban Planning 79,
273287.
Kellert, S.R., 2005. Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the
HumanNature Connection. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Konijnendijk, C.C., Nilsson, K., Randrup, T.B., Schipperijn, J. (Eds.), 2005. Urban Forest
and Trees. Springer, Berlin.

Konijnendijk, C.C., 2008. The Forest and the City: The Cultural Landscape of Urban
Woodland. Springer Science and Business Media, New York, NY.
Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C., 2001. Environment and crime in the inner city: does vegetation reduce crime? Environment and Behavior 33 (3), 343.
Maas, J., Verheij, R.A., Groenewegen, P.P., De Vries, S., Spreeuwenberg, P., 2006. Green
space, urbanity, and health: how strong is the relation? Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health 60, 587592.
Maas, J., Verheij, R.A., De Vries, S., Spreeuwenberg, P., Schellevis, F.G., Groenewegen, P.P., 2009. Morbidity is related to a green living environment. Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health 63, 967973.
McDonnell, M.J., Pickett, S.T., Groffman, P., Bohlen, P., Pouyat, R.V., Zipperer, W.C.,
Parmelee, R.W., Carreiro, M.M., Medley, K., 1997. Ecosystem processes along an
urban-to-rural gradient. Urban Ecosystems 1 (1), 2136.
McPherson, E.G., Simpson, J.R., Peper, P.J., Xiao, Q., 1999. Benetcost analysis of Modestos municipal urban forest. Journal of Arboriculture 25,
235248.
Moyer, J.M., Owen, R.J., Duinker, P.N., 2008. A forest-values framework for oldgrowth. The Open Forest Science Journal 10, 3753.
Moyer, J.M., Duinker, P.N., Cohen, F.G., 2010. Old-growth forest values: a narrative study of six Canadian forest leaders. Forestry Chronicle 86 (2),
256262.
Nowak, D.J., Noble, M.H., Sisinni, S.M., Dwyer, J.F., 2001. People and trees: assessing
the US urban forest resource. Journal of Forestry 99 (3), 3742.
Nowak, D.J., Dwyer, J.D., 2007. Understanding the benets and costs of urban forest
ecosystems. In: Kuser, J.E. (Ed.), Urban and Community Forestry in the Northeast.
, 2nd ed. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 2546.
Ordonez, C., Duinker, P., 2010. Interpreting sustainability for urban forests. Sustainability 2, 15101522.
Owen, R.J., Duinker, P.N., Beckley, T.M., 2009. Capturing old-growth values for use
in forest decision-making. Environmental Management 43, 237248.
Peckham, S.C., 2011. Nature in the City: Ecological Consciousness Development
Associated with Naturalized Urban Spaces and Urban Forest Values in Calgary, AB and Halifax, NS. Unpublished Masters Thesis. School for Resource
and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS. Retrieved from
http://dalspace.library.dal.ca//handle/10222/13180
QSR International Pty Ltd, 2008. NVivo 8 [Computer software]. QSR International
Pty Ltd., Victoria, Australia.
Rokeach, M., 1973. The Nature of Human Values. The Free Press, New York, NY.
Schroeder, H.W., Ruffolo, S.R., 1996. Householder evaluations of street trees in a
Chicago suburb. Journal of Arboriculture 22, 3543.
Schroeder, H.W., Flannigan, J.D., Coles, R., 2006. Residents attitudes toward street
trees in UK and USA communities. Arboriculture and Urban Forestry 32,
236246.
Seamans, G.S. (2012). Mainstreaming the environmental benets of street trees,
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, In press.
Smardon, R.C., 1988. Perception and aesthetics of the urban environment:
review of the role of vegetation. Landscape and Urban Planning 15 (1),
85106.
Sommer, R., Guenther, H., Barker, P.A., 1990. Surveying householder response to
street trees. Landscape Journal 9, 7985.
SPSS Inc., 2007. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 16.0. SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, IL.
Ulrich, R., 1984. View through a window may inuence recovery from surgery.
Science 224 (8), 4647, 420421.
Victoria, City of, 2009. City of Victoria urban forest master plan (draft). In: Gye and
Associates Urban Forestry Consultants Ltd. (G&A); Judith Cullington & Associates. (Ed.) G&A; City of Victoria: Victoria, BC, Canada, 63, Retrieved from:
http://www.victoria.ca/cityhall/departments compar rbnfrs.shtml
Xu, Z., Bengston, D.N., 1997. Trends in national forest values amongst forestry professionals, environmentalists, and the news media, 19821993. Society & Natural
Resources 10, 4359.