Seeing Trees: A History of Street Trees in New York City and Berlin

A fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume that explains what street trees tell us about humanitys changing relationship with nature and the city
 
A deep . . . dive into urban societys need forand relationship withtrees that sought to return the natural world to the concrete jungle.Adrian Higgins, Washington Post
 
Winner of the Foundation for Landscape Studies' 2019 John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize
 
Today, cities around the globe are planting street trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, as landscape historian Sonja Dümpelmann explains, the planting of street trees in cities to serve specific functions is not a new phenomenon. In her eye-opening work, Dümpelmann shows how New York City and Berlin began systematically planting trees to improve the urban climate during the nineteenth century, presenting the history of the practice within its larger social, cultural, and political contexts.
 
A unique integration of empirical research and theory, Dümpelmanns richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street treesvariously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and morereflect the changing relationship between humans and nonhuman nature in urban environments. Offering valuable insights and frameworks, this authoritative volume will be an important resource for years to come. See more