They need to see leaves from their windows, to sit in green spaces, and to play in the shade. Trees draw people out from behind walls of brick and glass, and in coming together, neighbors forge relationships, nurture children, and build a sense of community. In the ACES Human-Environment Research Laboratory, Frances Kuo and Bill Sullivan combine interests in psychology and environmental design, policy, and planning to learn how people are affected by green areas in their environments and how people can become involved in making their environments better. They conduct much of their research in Chicago s public housing neighborhoods.
Some housing units have trees and grass.
More often, however, people live in areas the researchers describe as barren no-man s lands, moonscapes, or urban deserts, where unrelieved stretches of concrete, asphalt, brick, and glass are testimony to the opinion that trees are luxuries the city cannot afford. The research team is challenging that viewpoint with accumulating data that show trees are integral to quality of life and may alleviate some costly social ills. Nature at every doorstep, the researchers suggest, should be a goal of city planners. Their data show that planting more trees to create a more fit environment in urban areas could yield savings measured in fewer calls to police, less strain on social services, and reduced demand for medical services. Reprinted with permission from Illinois Steward magazine, Volume 7, Number 4, Winter 1999 .