Inequitable access to urban reforestation: the impact of urban political economy on housing tenure and urban forests
Introduction
There has been substantial attention given to the benefits provided by urban forests (Pitt et al., 1979, Nowak and Dwyer, 2000). Little emphasis, however, has been placed on the commodification of urban trees and the means by which trees as commodities function within broader urban processes. While there has been limited empirical investigation into the distribution of urban trees within the context of the distribution of socioeconomic characteristics (Schmid, 1975, Dorney et al., 1984, Talarchek, 1990, Shaw et al., 1998, Iverson and Cook, 2000), there has been even less research that investigates beyond the initial distribution of trees to consider issues of reforestation (McPherson, 1994, Zipperer et al., 1990). Furthermore, the research that has considered urban forest inequity lacks substantial theorization as to how urban political economy more generally affects the distribution of urban trees. There is a need to consider the deeper influence of political economy on urban forests in order to produce a more equitable distribution of urban trees through reforestation efforts.
Because a number of positive externalities associated with urban trees exist, they are an important resource that should be considered within the broader context of urbanization and the uneven quality of life encountered throughout urban environments. As such, it is important to realize that like any other resource, accessibility to the positive externalities associated with urban trees do not tend to be equally distributed among urban residents (Heynen, 2003). Just as the urban built environment requires capital for maintenance, so do urban natural environments. The built environment readily demonstrates instances of disinvestments and as a result, “blighted” is a term commonly used to describe many central city landscapes. Less apparent is the impact that disinvestment has on the natural environment. It seems logical that the same processes of neighborhood disinvestment/succession should also negatively affect the urban natural environment, i.e. the quantity and quality of urban trees (Heynen, 2002). Urban reforestation efforts have the potential to alleviate such aspects of urban environmental inequality.
In 2002, Greening Milwaukee, Milwaukee’s largest not-for-profit tree planting program, notified city residents about the opportunity to obtain free trees for their residence. Residents requested 429 applications for free trees; 141 were completed and returned to Greening Milwaukee. Despite the fact that Greening Milwaukee reached out to homeowners and renters equally, the vast majority of trees planted within this program were planted on owner-occupied properties.
We intend to demonstrate that reforestation efforts are impeded by structural characteristics inherent to urban political economy as a result of the commodification of urban trees. We will pay special attention to linkages between housing tenure and participation rates in Milwaukee’s citywide reforestation program. The paper will demonstrate the ramifications political-economic processes have on urban reforestation and ultimately urban sustainability/environmental (in)justice. Suggestions can then be made concerning policy initiatives that effectively deal with structural reforestation inequities in Milwaukee and other large US cities.
Section snippets
Producing greener cities: urban forestry and reforestation efforts
There has recently been a proliferation of research focusing on urban ecological issues and urban sustainability (Girardet, 1993, Rees and Wackernagel, 1996, Inoguchi et al., 1999). However, little of this research focuses on the political economy’s influence upon urban ecosystems beyond the perpetual degradation brought on by heightened production, consumption and exchange (O’Conner, 1994). Specific issues relating to urban environmental change include, but are not limited to, urban land
Urban political economy, housing markets and environment
Urban environments are produced by economic investments, political tensions and cultural struggles (Swyngedouw, 1996). It is important that the distribution of urban trees be viewed as a distribution of commodities. The majority of trees found within urban areas are planted within the urban built environment and maintained by people (Moll, 1995). This forms the basis for the notion of a commodity produced by labor power. As are all commodities, urban trees are produced through the contradictory
Residential (im)mobility and housing maintenance
Mobility is important for considering the likelihood of participation, especially as linked with tenure. Although renters tend to have very high mobility rates in comparison to owner-occupiers (van der List et al., 2002), their ability to move from rentership to homeownership is often limited (Green, 2001). Immobility with regard to housing tenure creates structural impediments for participation in urban reforestation efforts structured primarily for participation by homeowners. As a
Discussion
During 2002, 429 citizens requested an application for Greening Milwaukee’s “Adopt-A-Tree” program. Of the 429 original requests for applications, 391 were made by homeowners. This group accounted for 91% of the people requesting an application. The city of Milwaukee has a homeownership rate of approximately 45% (US Census, 2000). However, not everyone who requested an application filled it out and returned it to Greening Milwaukee. Of the 429 requests for an application, 141 persons completed
Conclusions
How can urban reforestation programs help bring about a more equitable distribution of urban trees? On the one hand, it is essential to get greater stakeholder participation in reforestation programs like Greening Milwaukee. On the other, it is necessary for cities, states and the federal government to recognize that because of negative long-term ramifications associated with a lack of canopy cover within built environments, urban reforestation should figure more seriously on the agenda.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank, without implication, Daniel C. Knudsen, Deanna Benson, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on various drafts of this paper.
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