Quantifying the structure, function and utility of urban forests

60% of the global population will be urban by 2030. Urban forests provide massively important ecosystem and amenity benefits including health, climate mitigation, recreational and aesthetic. But these benefits are hard to quantify and are unevenly distributed between urban populations. Current approaches are often limited by the need for fast, low-cost and pragmatic management tools and are consequently undervalued: it is easier to reach consensus on conservative (low) valuation estimates than upper values. This project will explore new measurement tools and approaches to develop better ways to assess, understand and quantify the many values of urban forests, combining ground, airborne (UAV), space data, plus socioeconomic & other related data, in particular to assess how these benefits are distributed.

Specific research questions include: ​How can we use new spatial data and measurement tools to better quantify the benefits (and disbenefits) of urban forests, particularly carbon storage and temperature mitigation? How do metrics related to the structure (size, arrangement and connectivity) of urban forests relate to resilience and biodiversity? Can these metrics be used to more effectively prioritise equity of access? 

Outcomes and impact: a new way to understand, map and manage urban forests; new insights into the ecology and function of urban trees; improved management and decision-making around urban trees, particularly focusing on equity of access and benefit.