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Author: Philip Wheeler
  • Video
  • 8 minutes

Urban trees - could towns and cities become forests?

Updated Wednesday, 5 March 2025

Dr Philip Wheeler explores how we manage trees in urban environments now and for the future.

Find out more about The Open University's Environment courses and qualifications.

6000 years ago, most of Britain would have been covered in a mosaic of woodland and open heaths, bogs and grasslands.

Today, although only about six percent of the land in Britain is urban, almost 85% of the population lives in towns and cities. The ancient woods that once covered much of Britain now make up a tiny proportion of the landscape, and even less in these urban areas.

If you live in a British town or city today, you probably still encounter trees in your day-to-day life. You might be aware of efforts to increase the number of trees around you. So, as more trees are planted in them, could towns and cities become forests again?

In this video, Dr Philip Wheeler explores what our knowledge of ancient woodlands can teach us about how we manage trees in urban environments now and for the future.



Transcript (PDF document70.9 KB)


Dr Philip Wheeler

Dr Philip Wheeler is an ecologist and conservation biologist in the OU’s School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences.

Discover more about Dr Philip Wheeler and his research group.


References, credits and acknowledgments

This video was written and presented by Dr Philip Wheeler and produced by The Open University in Wales. 



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