Drivers of street tree species selection: The case of the London planetrees in Philadelphia

Abstract

The London planetree (or London plane in the UK: Platanus × hispanica) is one of the most common street trees in the world. Planetrees currently comprise nearly one-third of the street trees in Paris, and over one-tenth in New York City. London planetrees are also ubiquitous in many other cities.3 Today, the planetree is referred to as the 'big shade tree of boulevards around the world,' and it has long had a reputation as tolerant of air pollution. For instance, John Claudius Loudon suggested that planes 'bear the smoke of the city.' But street tree species selection is based on more than environmental suitability; it is also rooted in the legacies of past decision-making and the interactions between social and biophysical considerations.6 Scholars writing about urban trees in the USA have investigated the cultural and political symbolism of American elms (Ulmus americana) in New England, and palms (family Arecaceae) in California, but the historical popularity of the London planetree has received far less attention. Although the international popularity of the London planetree has been attributed to British colonialism, the English origins of landscape gardens, and Italian precedent, these explanations are superfcial and miss central elements of the London planetree's story.

Citation

Roman, Lara A.; Eisenman, Theodore S. 2022. Drivers of street tree species selection: The case of the London planetrees in Philadelphia. In: The Politics of Street Trees, eds. J. Woudstra, C. Allen. Routledge: New York: 83-96. Chapter 6. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003054672-8.