2
2. Tree Cover and Urban Environment
A century ago, in the beginning of 20
th
century,
just about one tenth of the global population
was living in the cities which now exceeds 50
percent and expected to increase further in
future
1
. The urban areas in the world account for
over three fourth of Carbon emission, sixty per
cent residential water and about three fourth of
industrial wood consumption. In an era of rapid
urbanization, increasing air pollution and global
temperature, there is a need of social awareness
campaign for the governance of urban systems
that counter the menace of defacement of
green patches of tree cover and sensitization
issues of environment, hygiene, sanitation and
solid waste management. Such governance is
now essential in the cities and towns of Gujarat
where a large number of people are living in
Municipal Corporations (
Mahanagar Palikas
),
municipalities (
Nagarpalikas
) which cover about
1.77% of the geographical area of the state
against about 3% earth’s urbanized terrestrial
surface in the world
1
. Compared to other parts
of the world, especially India, the urbanization
in Gujarat is relatively at a faster rate during
the recent years. In the background of growing
environmental problems in cities, both policy
and science now emphasize the critical necessity
of green urban areas.
According to the 2011 census, the urban
population has increased to 42.6 per cent (2.57
crores) of the state’s total; from 28.1 percent in
1971 (31.1 per cent in 1981, 34.49 per cent in
1991)
2
. With the present trend, forecasts suggest
that, by 2021, 3.5 crore people constituting
nearly half of the state population would be
residing in urban Gujarat
2
. On the other hand,
the environment capital, including tree cover
and quality of air is degrading due to crowding
of people, although several initiatives have been
taken to halt such degradation, yet much more
is needed.
Urbanareasdonot haveonly local environmental
impacts but also large ecological footprints. The
urbanization have variety of impacts: conversion
of agricultural or forest land for urban uses
and infrastructure, polluting or reclaiming of
wetlands, increasing impervious cover on earth
surface, quarrying and excavation of sand,
gravel and building materials in large quantities
and cutting of trees. The use of biomass fuel or
hydro-carbon also causes indoor and outdoor
air pollution. Other effects such as pollution
of waterways, lakes and ground waters by
untreated effluent are increasing in all urban
areas. Air pollution from cities has an impact on
residents’ health as well as on vegetation and
soils at a considerable distance. Urban transport
contributes to air pollution
,
and the large
concentration of automobiles and industries
in cities causes the lion’s share of urban global
greenhouse gas emissions.
The most explosive urban growth is expected in Asia
which is likely to have the largest urban population
in the world. As the bulk of world’s population shifts
from rural to urban areas, poverty is becoming
an increasingly urban phenomenon
1
. It has been
projected that within a short period, more people
may live in the cities than in rural areas in Asia and
this situationmay reach in a decade in Gujarat. Urban
areas in the developing countries have multi-faceted
problems like paucity of safe water, inadequate
waste management, pollution hazards, occupation
and degradation of sensitive lands, flooding, poor
oxygen level and inadequate green cover.
Trees are an important part of the urban
landscape. They play a role in improving air and
waterqualityandprovidesomanyenvironmental
and social benefits
3
. Trees are on the job twenty
four hours every day working for all of us to
improve our environment and quality of life.
Besides the cooling effect, the vegetation cover
improves the urban environment by reducing
pollution and suspended particle matter. In
