C. Fremont Latimer
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 63
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The intent of this thesis is to develop a process for planning the urban forest that can be used by landscape architects, urban foresters and communities as an aid in visioning, concept development and concept analysis. By utilizing this process communities will be better able to understand their available options and the implications of their management decisions. Th e fi rst step in developing the process was defi ning the core mission of urban forestry management and understanding how the typical planning process endeavors to achieve that mission. In researching the topic it became apparent that the current planning model does not take full advantage of recent research and analysis tools that measure the benefi ts of the urban forest. Th e second step was to revise the existing planning model to take advantage of these tools. An additonal step of visioning was included in the process. Visioning is a process that is commonly used in design professions where conceptual strategies are developed and compared so that the most appropriate strategy can be chosen. In designing the urban forest, analysis tools can be applied to these strategies to predict the relative benefi ts and costs of each. Th e third step was to test the process by applying it to a case study. Th ree strategies were developed for the street trees in the historic district of Fernandina Beach, FL. A schematic design was created for each strategy that was analyzed using i-Tree Streets. Th e analysis included a detailed breakdown of predicted benefi ts, costs and composition/structure. Th e fi nal step was to consolidate the analyses into a single side-by-side report so that the results could be compared and easily communicated.