Inequitable access to urban reforestation: the impact of urban political economy on housing tenure and urban forests

There has been substantial attention given to the benefits provided by urban forests, but little emphasis placed on the distribution of urban trees and the means by which trees are redistributed through urban reforestation efforts. This paper examines the 2002 program Greening Milwaukee, the city's largest public/private tree planting program. The vast majority of trees planted for this program are located on owner-occupied properties. The study accounts for this via political-economic analysis and discusses both the implications and the necessary strategies to overcome this inequity. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.