Tree-related urban designs in western Senegal: visual fieldnotes through cultural sustainability perspective

This study explores the multifaceted expressions of tree-related urban designs in the western Senegalese region in diversified scales and contexts, from religious and secular settlements via ceremonious and mundane situations to public and private spaces. It crisscrosses between environmental and cultural sustainability aspects in view of these arboreal designs, pointing to the long-term affinity of these designs on the one hand and their adaptability to contemporary hybrid circumstances on the other. This study strives to counter balance some existing geographical, thematic, and methodological biases within the literature on sustainability and urban greenspaces. It also employs photographic evidence to capture the stubborn persistence and dialectical nuances of this meaningful formalistic phenomenon, despite the natural and human-made challenges of the region.