Factors affecting the design coordination of trees and underground utilities in new developments in the UK

ABSTRACT The successful coordination of tree and utility layouts, particularly at the design stage of a development, would minimise conflicts and maximise benefits for both trees and utilities. This study assessed the extent to which trees and underground utilities in new developments in the UK are coordinated by design and the factors that help or hinder this coordination. Landscape architects and design teams at housing developers and utility companies in north-west England were surveyed online regarding their experiences of tree/utility design coordination and asked to suggest how coordination could be improved. Results indicated that overall responsibility for utility layout design was unclear and the timing of first coordination between trees and utilities varied widely. First coordination was often at the technical design stage or later; 92% of respondents had at some stage experienced first coordination to be during site construction. Where designed locations for trees and utilities coincide, utilities currently take precedence, commonly due to cost implications (52% of respondents). Trees may, more rarely, take precedence if, for example, they are seen as a special priority. Coordination during design was considered constrained by lack of knowledge (46% of respondents) and by fixed priorities (41% of respondents), but also by cost concerns, poor communications, technical restrictions and lack of incentives. Respondents considered that coordination could be improved by earlier and ongoing communications, improved knowledge, effective enforcement and an openness to discussion and to new methods of utility installation and tree establishment.