Tree management in Hong Kong : modes and challenges of organizational coordination

Abstract

Trees as important assets to our environment provide essential environmental, ecological and socio-economic values and contribute to people’s well-being and health. The value of trees was appreciated in the past mainly in form of its aesthetic quality and health-environmental benefits, and recently with focus shifted to building resilience of our environment and tackling local and global challenges such as climate change and with due consideration to public safety. The history of tree planting is long yet the significant scientific progress and application of professional management approach in arboriculture and tree management was relatively recent. Indeed, greening and tree management matters are a lot more complex and wicked than it is commonly understood. This study explores the evolution of the governance of tree management in Hong Kong as a matter of public interest through the lenses of modes and challenges of organizational coordination arrangements and challenges involved since 1840s to the present. The distinctive features of tree management together with the specific coordination challenges and corresponding responses in each era and relevant experience in other countries are also examined. The tree planting and maintenance work which typically involve many actors and interactions is demanding in coordination matters from planning to overall management to be effective. A case study approach comprising desktop research and interviews is adopted in exploring the empirical evidence and experiences. All of which provide insights to the past and contemporary challenges and developments. In the various eras from 1840s to the present, the role of trees in the Hong Kong setting varied under the diverging contexts and there have also been multiple major exercises in restructuring of the organizations to accommodate for the societal needs and tackle the various challenges. It was an interactive and continuous refining process in which government policy in tree management was shaped in response to the changing political and socio-economic contexts and needs. The governance of the tree management regime in general has evolved from the traditional public administration in the colonial era to new public management in the post-colonial era and to the emerging new public governance since the establishment of the Tree Management Office in 2010. The strong vertical hierarchy in the colonial era has also evolved to the current horizontal and collaborative coordination approach with the Tree Management Office as the leader in the network. The Tree Management Office has bridged the gap of leadership vacuum caused by the dissolution of the municipal councils. The Office has incrementally built up coordination networks within and outside government. Another recent milestone was the array of enhancement measures introduced in 2023 to improve on the tree planting and maintenance of roadside trees. While the leadership of the Tree Management Office has been progressively consolidated, the vertical and horizontal coordination, policy integration and synergy of civil society would be areas for further enhancement.