The smart climate tree, as an urban remedy?

Abstract

Cities are often described as the frontline of global responses to climate change. According to Frantzeskaki et al. (2019) Cities are fertile grounds for smart design, innovation, and experimentation and can tackle complex urban challenges with Nature-based solutions. This can be observed when looking at urban trees, as they along with other greening initiatives, become more and more popular in city planning (Angelo 2020). Urban trees can increase heat and water resilience, but also contribute to a healthier and more livable (Ordóñez & Trammell 2022). The ‘climate trees’ seem to be the universal remedy when it comes to urban climate resilience. I look at the case of Augsburg, which is the third largest urban forest owner in Germany, and started to plant so-called climate trees within the city. Recently, the city received funding from the federal government to plant over a thousand new trees, but they will now become smart climate trees. The trees will be provided with sensors, to ‘communicate’ their need for water. However, these climate trees provide more than a decorative improvement but also a normative vision of society and are highly contested. Smart climate trees follow the neoliberal logic that demands high utility, high efficiency, and productivity. I want to elaborate on the implementation, the contested processes, and the possible outcome of this undertaking.

References

Angelo Hillary (2020): How Green Became Good – Urbanized Nature and the Making of Cities and Citizens. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Frantzeskaki, Timon McPhearson, Marcus J Collier, Dave Kendal, Harriet Bulkeley, Adina Dumitru, Claire Walsh, Kate Noble, Ernita van Wyk, Camilo Ordóñez, Cathy Oke, László Pintér (2019): Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Climate Change Adaptation: Linking Science, Policy, and Practice Communities for Evidence-Based Decision-Making, BioScience, Volume 69, Issue 6, June 2019, Pages 455–466, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz042

Ordóñez Barona Camilo, Trammell Tara L. E. (2022): Urban Trees in a Changing Climate: Science and Practice to Enhance Resilience. In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 40, DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.882510