Cultural background and landscape history as factors affecting perceptions of the urban forest

This study "focused on distinct cultural communities in Toronto. A brief historical review identified key features of the role of trees in the domestic landscape of each cultural group. Then an empirical study compared attitudes toward trees and other landscape features among present-day members of those cultures." [UMN]

"Because a large proportion of the urban forest grows on private property, it is necessary to have broad community support for urban forestry. As people from all over the world live in Canadian cities, it was hypothesized that people with different cultural backgrounds would have different perceptions of the urban forest. This hypothesis was tested by (1) researching different landscaping traditions; (2) interviewing members of four different communities; and (3) conducting vegetation inventories. Inventory and interview data provided a consistent picture of the four communities. The British community reacted the most positively to shade trees. They also expressed the greatest willingness to plant shade trees, had the most shade trees per square meter on their properties, and were the only group that liked naturalized parks (hiking paths). The Chinese community showed less yard maintenance than the other communities, and many of the Chinese indicated that they did not want to add trees to their property. The Chinese responded more favorably than the other groups to photographs depicting landscapes free of trees. Italian and Portuguese communities emphasized fruit trees and vegetable gardens, and responded negatively toward shade trees when these were in conflict with their gardens. These cultural differences are largely consistent with the traditional use of trees in British, Mediterranean and Chinese landscaping, and appear to be maintained among North American immigrant populations." [Abstract]

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