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A Survey of Urban Forestry in Sweden

A survey was undertaken to gather information on publicly owned street and park trees in urban areas in Sweden and to ascertain the extent to which local authorities take a planned, systematic and integrated approach to the management of this resource. This information can be used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of an urban tree programme. A postal questionnaire was sent to the local authority employee responsible for urban tree management in the 107 urban areas with a population larger than 10 000. The response rate was 57.94 percent. Survey findings indicated that most local authorities do not manage their urban tree resource in a planned or integrated way. Only 28 percent of the respondents had accurate records for the number of street and park trees; 41 percent of local authorities had a separate tree strategy document; 44 percent used a computerised management system in their tree programme; and 46 percent involved the public in the tree programme. The average amount of maintenance work undertaken in a systematic way was 61 percent, and 60 percent of the responding local authorities inspected their street trees on a regular cycle, however, none of the local authorities in areas with more than 100 000 residents inspected their street or park trees systematically. Only two respondents had the job title ‘Arborist’, and the average working time spent on tree-related issues for all respondents was 13 percent. [dissertation abstract]

A Survey of Urban Forestry in Sweden

Sub-Topics
Infrastructure (green), Perceptions/Values/Attitudes, Urban Forest Management
State(s)/Region(s)
International
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