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

"A deep . . . dive into urban society's need for--and relationship with--trees 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, Dümpelmann's richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees--variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more--reflect 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. "A fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume that explains what street trees tell us about humanity's changing relationship with nature and the city Today, cities around the globe are planting street trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, as landscape historian Sonja Dumpelmann explains, the planting of street trees in cities to serve specific functions is not a new phenomenon. In her eye-opening work, Dumpelmann 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, Dumpelmann's richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees-variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more-reflect 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" -- Publicaciones Arquitectura y Arte A fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume that explains what street trees tell us about humanity's changing relationship with nature and the city 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, Dümpelmann's richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees—variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more—reflect 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. A fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume that explains what street trees tell us about humanity’s changing relationship with nature and the city

Today, cities around the globe are planting street trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, as landscape historian Sonja Dümpelmann explains, this 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, Dümpelmann’s richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees—variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more—reflect 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. "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, Dümpelmann's richly illustrated work uncovers this important untold story. Street trees--variously regarded as sanitizers, nuisances, upholders of virtue, economic engines, and more--reflect 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." -- Publisher's description Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction: Seeing the Urban Forest 15 Part One. New York City 35 1. Tree Doctor vs. Tree Butcher: Standardized Trees and the Taylorization of New York City 35 2. Street Tree Aesthetics: Uniformity and Variety along New York City Streets 57 3. Tree Ladies: Women, Trees, and Birds in New York City 81 4. Planting Civil Rights: Street Tree Plant-ins in New York City 111 Part Two. Berlin 139 5. Burning Trees: Street Trees in Wartime and Early Cold War Berlin 139 6. Greening Trees: Replanting East and West Berlin 172 7. Shades of Red: Art, Action, and Aerial Photography for a Green Berlin 200 8. Unity and Variety: Berlin’s New Urban Forest 232 Epilogue: Street Trees of the Future 256 Abbreviations 265 Notes 267 Index 315 Sonja Dümpelmann. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.