Research Catalog

Title

Trees in Urban design / Henry Arnold.

Author

Arnold, Henry F.

Publication

New York, NY : Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

197 pages; 29 cm

Summary

• Reflecting the belief that urban life requires an "escape," city parks have long been designed in imitation of pastoral surroundings. Henry F. Arnold challenges this tired romantic style that disregards the urban environment - and shows how trees can be used to enhance urban elements rather than hide them. He encourages landscape architects and city planners to utilize trees, not as decoration, but as living building materials to create and reinforce urban spaces.
• The revised Second Edition adds practical value to the work, answering many of the questions that were raised as a result of the original volume. Trees in Urban Design, Second Edition, concentrates two new chapters on the more utilitarian issues of urban tree planting. Chapter Six deals substantively with the significant changes in urban tree-planting techniques that have evolved since the original edition was printed.
• Chapter Seven deals with the revolution in urban forestry that has taken place during this same period, the economics of urban tree planting, and the essential government role in this immensely important work. In this way, the book has become more instructive and, therefore, more useful as a source of information.
• After a brief historical sketch of urban tree use, Arnold takes a broad look at American cities and establishes a fresh design approach based on classical principles. In contrast to the scattered use of trees, he advocates the collective use of trees in groves, rows, and symmetrical units, and explains aesthetic principles used in grouping trees in a variety of settings.
• To emphasize the most important design considerations in choosing a type of tree, the branch structures of prototypical trees not in leaf are displayed in over 200 drawings and photographs. The same examples are repeated in a variety of contexts to demonstrate the effect of different design principles.
• The book explains why the science of plant ecology is of limited value in formulating rules for planting trees in cities. It clarifies the need to reevaluate the claims made for ecology in an urban context. Obstacles to effective tree plantings - such as municipal policies - are discussed, along with ways to change these obstacles into opportunities for better urban design and increased tree plantings. The book also suggests a realistic method of budgeting for tree planting and maintenance.
• Trees in Urban Design, Second Edition, provides bold, practical solutions to important problems of economics, planning, and maintenance of urban planting, and offers effective programs to raise urban tree management to its essential place in the urban megastructure. Reinforcing the view of the city as the nucleus of human culture, this "groundbreaking" book is essential reading for architects and city planners.

Subjects

• Urban beautification
• Trees in cities

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• Foreword to Second Edition -- 1. Today and yesterday. A view of the problem. A glance at the past. Altering and expanding perceptions -- 2. A selective view. Choosing examples. Thirty-three exemplary urban views. Design implications -- 3. Principles. Cities and nature. Cultural constraints. Language. The need for order. Physical design principles. Abstract design principles -- 4. Closely observed geometry. Characteristics of tree growth. Relationships to buildings and streets. Arrangement of trees. Spatial composition. Growth rate and planting size. Organizing trees in large parks. Conveying the design -- 5. Choice of type. Selecting trees for design. Aesthetic criteria. Cultural criteria. Operations and tree type. Examples of trees and sites -- 6. Technical requirements. Solving technical problems. State of technology. Below ground. Ground surface. Above ground. Installation techniques. After planting -- 7. A longer view. The state of urban trees.
• Economics of urban trees. Government role. A nobler vision. Appendix A: Common and botanical names -- Appendix B: Descriptive information about photographs.

ISBN

0442008899

LCCN

92011127

OCLC

• 317473837
• ocn317473837

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries