Wooden boxes do not replace trees!  

A technology with the misleading name ‘City Trees’ now seems to be gaining a foothold in Luxembourg. The idea: a kind of wooden box with integrated moss-covered panels, which filters the air and cools it down a little, is supposed to replace living city trees…

The Mouvement Ecologique strongly advises against this trend, which is also expensive (there is talk of €16,000 annual rent per ‘tree’). Because: such an ‘installation’ may filter the air efficiently, but can otherwise only fulfil a fraction of the functions that a real tree provides: Aesthetics, value for biodiversity, effect on the psyche, higher quality of stay for people. It’s all about making our towns and cities greener again so that people enjoy spending time there, turning streets and squares into living spaces for young and old with children playing there… Anyone who reduces trees to a certain filter function and CO2 binding fails to recognise their many and varied services. Instead of such ‘technical solutions’, creating more attractive green meeting places should be the motto of contemporary urban development, especially in times of climate change.

29.07.24