From Urban Forests to Neighbourhood Treescapes: An Examination of Power, Actors and Processes in Champlain Park, Ottawa

This research examines the asymmetries of power that exist between a variety of actors when addressing issues of Ottawa’s urban forest. Champlain Park was identified as a case study because of persistent infill development pressures and the presence of bur oak. Through semi-structured interviews and supporting secondary materials, a discourse analysis was used to reveal key perspectives of the various actors involved in shaping the neighbourhood treescape. This research highlights how dominant discourses supporting the neoliberal compact city privilege developers in decision making over the urban forest at the expense of community residents. It also reveals an inherent tension within the municipal government. This research argues that a neighbourhood or community scale, the scale of the treescape, is also an important scale - but often neglected - for the management of the urban forest. This work argues that the urban forest should therefore be re-imagined as a mosaic of treescapes.