Urban Trees Grow Faster

Despite (or maybe because of) all the stresses of the built environment, city trees are starting to grow faster than their rural siblings — by up to 20% potentially.

Until recently it was always thought to be the other way round, with rural growth quicker in the more suitable and harmonious surroundings.

But as our urban temperatures increase with the urban heat island effect, nature as always seems to adapt, with trees and forests reacting to their immediate surroundings and creating beneficial effects.

This happens in several ways:

Trees and ideally dense pockets of forest are still by far the best way to cool the urban environment and counteract the heat island effects we are seeing.