Better Foliage Through Zoning
Zoning Practice — June 2008
By James Schwab, FAICP, Carrie Fesperman
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Trees are an overwhelmingly popular amenity in urban areas these days, yet they don't always get the respect they deserve in local development regulations. Citizens enjoy trees, but there is room for more education of both the public and decision makers about the conditions that allow successful urban forestry programs to happen.
Planners, foresters, and arborists are learning how to convert good intentions into actual long-term improvements in greening our cities. The need for effective planning and implementation of urban forestry is becoming more apparent in a nation that is increasingly focusing its attention on serious environmental challenges like climate change. In recent years, urban forestry research has documented and quantified a variety of benefits from trees.
This issue of Zoning Practice outlines why urban forestry is important and highlights some local regulatory approaches to tree preservation and propagation.
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About the Authors
James Schwab, FAICP
Jim Schwab is currently an "allegedly retired" planning consultant after leaving the APA Research Department in 2017, where he served as Manager of the Hazards Planning Center from 2008. He previously had been assistant editor of Planning Magazine and senior research associate. He led the development of numerous PAS Reports on hazard-related and environmental topics as well as training programs both in the U.S. and overseas. Since 2008, he has been adjunct assistant professor in the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Affairs, and more recently has been a certified instructor for FEMA's Emergency Management Institute.
Carrie Fesperman