Can urban forests survive the housing boom?

Oct 28

trees in an urban setting — Developers set aside mature trees during construction of a townhouse project in Victoria, B.C. Photo: Jimmy Thomson / Canada's National Observer

By Hanna Hett

Alongside the usual suspects at a construction site — trailers, temporary fencing and construction workers in high-visibility vests — there’s something less usual: a mature maple tucked in amongst the structure and an oak at the back.

Brightside, the non-profit housing organization that redeveloped two seniors’ housing units into a larger building in Vancouver, made it a priority to save the two stately trees. The maple was particularly challenging, said Adam James, a principal architect with Ryder Architecture who designed the building. They had to change the prescribed design to accommodate it. An arborist determined the space needed to protect the tree's roots, and during construction they built a protective boardwalk platform over top, as well as installed irrigation to ensure the trees had enough water.

“The tree told us how to design the building,” James said. However, to almost triple the number of seniors’ housing units, 15 trees — some in the middle of the site — had to be sacrificed. While they planted 29 more to replace them, it will likely take decades before the young trees provide the same benefits as a mature one.

Canada needs an additional 3.5 million housing units by 2030 to address its housing shortage. Various governments are trying to increase supply, from cities adopting “missing middle” policies, B.C. legislating municipalities to increase density, or the federal government slating public lands for affordable housing. Trees, meanwhile, help cool the air, manage stormwater, sequester carbon, decrease air pollution, provide wildlife habitat and promote people’s mental and physical health. And when they grow in the same places people are trying to build that much-needed housing, sometimes a choice has to be made: keep the trees, or cut them down?

Can urban forests survive the housing boom?

With vote looming, builders hope Vancouver sticks with gas restrictions

Timber trail blazers see new growth in green building drive