ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses urban forestry from different angles, providing information about its background, rationale and current practice. It describes the early use of trees in cities, before focusing on European tree landscapes, introduces the urban forest as a resource with different components, and focuses on ways of measuring and monitoring this resource. The book then sets the scene for a series of chapters on the benefits of urban forests, and also introduces the ecosystem service concept, which represents a new way of looking at the products and services. Some basic information is provided on how to assess these different services, which is often not easy, for example in the case of cultural ecosystem services. The focus then shifts to urban forests and urban trees specifically.
