DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75774-2_7

Summary
The objective of this work is to create a model using Geographic Information System (GIS) to develop best-management strategies for urban trees, taking into account various objectives such as population security and economic improvement of Visual Tree Assessment and pruning operation. The Decision Support System (DSS) uses dynamic simulation to consider the annual growth of individual plants and the annual budgets dedicated to green urban care by local administration. The intervention priority for trees is based on a model that evaluates the potential value of trees and green areas for recreational purposes, as well as the probability of falling trees and branches that can cause damage to people, vehicles, buildings, and other facilities. The study area is Cascine's Park in the city of Florence, Italy, and the model provides intervention priorities and their spatial distribution over a period of five years. The paper also addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the model, highlighting the economic and managerial benefits of applying the DSS. Overall, the paper demonstrates the importance of using GIS and dynamic simulation to develop best-management strategies for urban trees, taking into account multiple objectives and budgets.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The paper develops a Decision Supporting Systems in a GIS environment to outline best-management strategies for urban trees, optimizing the trees' interventions based on people's security (case of study: Cascine park, Florence). The DSS's primary goal is to plan differentiated temporal resolutions of urban trees' interventions to outline a schedule of intervention for every tree (urgency and periodicity). The scheduling of intervention is based on recreational value and potential tree instability.
The value of every tree for recreation is based on accessibility, nearness to points of interest, and beauty of the tree as perceived by the local community.
The potential tree instability is based on the species and age of the tree. This two-variable are combined to develop a risk analysis. The urgent interventions are for trees with higher risks (high recreational value and high potential instability).

Point of Strength
The method to calculate the criteria to define the schedule for urban trees' interventions could be revised. Still, the paper represents an interesting application of the system thinking approach to provide operative management solutions.
Using this example, students can understand the practical uses of the systems thinking approach for solving everyday management problems.