By Zhuo Cheng, Ziyi Wu, Weizhe Chen, Wenxuan Li, Chen Lin, Qing Zhang, and Chunlin Long.
Cultural homogeneity, much like biodiversity loss, is a big issue which is getting more attention around the world. City flowers and trees (CFTs) serve as the “green business card” of modern cities, becoming significant symbol of urban civilization. Over the past century, many cities in China have begun to pick their own CFTs. However, there are cases where inconsistencies and irrationalities in how these selections are made. This study takes a closer look at CFTs in prefecture-level cities across China by analyzing their distribution, species diversity, development history, reasons for being chosen, and how they are used.
In total, 270 cities in China have recognized city flowers while 256 cities have confirmed city trees. The number encompassed 75 species as city flowers and 94 species as city trees. Notably, the top ten city flowers represent 66.7% of all designated city flowers, while the top ten city trees account for 60.5% of all designated city trees. The main reasons for establishing city flowers include culture (52.6%) and landscape (44.8%), while for city trees these are largely driven by landscape considerations (39.1%) and symbolic culture (33.2%). It is noteworthy that in some cities where CFTs are established without well-defined reasons. These cases make up about 20.4% for flowers and 26.6% for trees.
Our study underscores a concerning level of species homogeneity among CFTs throughout China while also highlighting a lack of clarity regarding the rationale behind their selection in many cities. The study provides recommendations to address these issues along with valuable insights for cities that have yet to determine their own CFTs.
Relational Thinking 