ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how urban lifestyles have resulted in changing relations between people and forests and with emphasis on woodland and other nature situated in or near cities and towns. It deals with placing the relationships between cities and their residents on the one hand and forests on the other in a historical perspective. The chapter examines the love–hate relationship between cities and forests and describes how urban residents have played a crucial role in the rise of the conservation movement in Europe and elsewhere. It explores the proliferation of urban lifestyles, especially in relation to changing uses and images of nature and forests. The chapter presents the importance and multiple roles of urban forests, for example, in terms of provision of wide range of ecosystem services that contribute not only to people’s health and well-being but also to, for example, social cohesion.
