ABSTRACT
This chapter translates the history of trees and vegetation in cities. It also traces the history of urbanization and the use of trees through a regional (e.g. Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Central and South America, and North America) perspective. The civilizations of the Inca, Maya, and Aztec played prominent roles in the pre-Columbian history of Central and South American. These peoples built unprecedented cities, in both scale and design, ranging from Central America to Chile and Argentina. Pre-Columbian Amazonian people practised forest management and agriculture. The Native Americans were connected to and dependent upon nature for survival. Growing the urban forest today has challenges from climate change, introduced insects and diseases, wildfires at the urban-rural interface, and in densifying cities. A sound historical understanding of the world's urban forests can assist in dealing with these challenges, as it provides a base for understanding people-tree and city-forest relations, as well as for current planning, design, and management practices.
