Beyond polemics: towards an understanding of the narratives around the desired and despised Conocarpus tree in Kuwait for better urban green infrastructure

Abstract

Over the past three decades, Kuwait’s urban landscape has become dominated by the controversial Conocarpus lancifolius tree. This exotic tree is shrouded in a polemic discourse, oscillating between desiring or despising it. On one extreme it is desired by local environmental activists as a versatile evergreen tree that can withstand Kuwait’s harsh arid climate and saline soil; on the other, it is despised by local ecologists and engineers for its monoculture and the destructive behaviour of its roots to subsurface urban infrastructure. This qualitative research aims to understand the multiple narratives around C. lancifolius by analysing institutional reports, social media, local news and grounded interviews. It argues for the need to move beyond polemics regarding C. lancifolius by calling for inclusive landscape governance frameworks for its management, and offers initial context-specific recommendations which may contribute to better urban green infrastructure (UGI) implementation in Kuwait.

Keywords:

• Conocarpus
• Conocarpus lancifolius
• Kuwait
• landscape architecture
• urban green infrastructure
• arid region
• landscape governance

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Halah Alessa for her indispensable research assistance. I would also like to thank Dalal Alsayer and Gareth Doherty for kindly reviewing this paper. I especially thank the anonymous reviewers for their generously detailed comments which were instrumental in its final version.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Research ethics and consent statement

Informed written consent was provided by the research subjects which in this case are professional interviewees who have experience with C. lancifolius. Subjects were informed that the purpose of this study is to explore why there are such opposing views regarding C. lancifolius in order to optimise this urban tree’s management in Kuwait for better urban green infrastructure. While there are no direct benefits to the participants, this project aims to encourage future research on C. lancifolius. Each interview lasted approximately one hour and was audio-recorded and transcribed by the researcher. Subjects were made aware that their names, professional affiliations and work experience with C. lancifolius will appear in this study; however, the interviewee reserves the right to remain anonymous if they wish. The results related to the interviews were made available to subjects before publication upon request. Subjects were informed that the content of this interview may lead to research publication. There are no risks involved in participating in this study.

Data availability statement

There is no data available.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported and funded by Kuwait University under Research Grant No. [ZV02/21]. I am very grateful for this research grant from Kuwait University.

Notes on contributors

Reem Alissa

Reem Alissa is an assistant professor who specialises in urban and landscape design at Kuwait University’s Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture. Her research interests include histories and contemporary issues in urban and landscape design, community engagement in landscape architecture, and the state of the landscape architecture profession in Kuwait and the Arab Gulf. She has a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master of Architecture in Urban Design and a Master in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, and a first professional Master of Architecture from Tulane University. Reem is the recipient of a Landscape Middle East Sustainability Award 2023 from Landscape Middle East online magazine for her contributions to the landscape profession in Kuwait. She is Secretariat Member of the prestigious Annual International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture.