Variations in municipal urban forestry policies: A case study of Toronto, Canada

摘要

Urban forest conditions are driven by a range of biophysical and social factors, including urban form,socioeconomic conditions, and municipal policy. However, relatively little attention has been paid to policies,particularly those aimed at private property. The purpose of this study was to identify the types of urban tree policiesthat exist in the Greater Toronto Area, begin to understand why those variations may occur, and determine if suchvariations lead to on-the-ground differences. To address these objectives, we conducted a survey to identify policiescovering the planting and removal of privately owned trees, as well as publicly owned trees along roadways in 29municipalities. The results of the survey were then compared to census and vegetation abundance data to determine therelationship between municipal characteristics, level of policy adoption, and on-the-ground differences. We foundsubstantial variation in the type of policies in place, with regulations addressing tree protection on private propertyoccurring only in larger municipalities. The existence of on-the-ground differences was less clear, possibly because ofthe relatively recent adoption of most policies. These results highlight the need to assist smaller municipalities indeveloping urban forestry policies and to monitor these policies' influence over the long term to better understand theirrole in shaping the urban forest.