Israeli Startup Creates Urban Oases

Trees play an important role in urban areas by providing shade and helping to clean the air. In fact, trees can help cool a city and reduce the need for air-conditioning. A city that has trees is a much more livable place.

Many cities do not have enough greenery and the trees that are there are competing for space with underground utilities and paved streets, according to NoCamels. Sadly, the trees are losing. That’s because construction projects require a dense compaction of the soil that does not give tree roots a chance to grow. But an Israeli startup located in Ramat Gan is looking to change that with a system that allows trees to flourish in urban spaces.

Creating space for trees
TreeTube, founded in 2019, has come up with a unique patented system with optimal conditions for tree growth, according to the startup’s website. This takes into account the needs of utility companies as well as trees.

“You need to have a space for electricity, gas, water, sewage, drainage, [and] communication,” TreeTube co-founder Jonathan Antebi  told NoCamels. “There also needs to be a place for trees – a green utility.”

Trees need to have uncompacted space – like in forests – and unless the urban trees manage to damage the man-made environment to give their roots room to grow, more than 30 percent of trees in cities will stop growing in three to five years, according to Antebi. Many die within ten years.

That’s why the startup developed a root structure system that allows trees to grow with their roots firmly underground, according to Israel21. This modular system that is tube-like includes everything that a tree needs to thrive; soil, water, and even a ventilation system.

Tree tubes
The TreeTube system consists of massive tubes that are made of HDP plastic that is 25 percent recycled, reported NoCamels, and fitted together like blocks. The system is placed under roads and sidewalks alongside cables and pipes.

The tubes can be placed in any place where pavement has been removed for repairs or upgrades. Once the tubes are in place, it’s easy and efficient to plant trees. More than 1,000 new trees have been planted and are thriving thanks to TreeTube.

The tubes have been used in Israel, the Netherlands, and Estonia where the startup mainly works with local authorities and landscape architects. But much more is needed.

According to Antebi, urban life will be impossible without trees as the planet heats up due to climate change. “We cannot play this game anymore: the world is in a different situation,” he told NoCamels.

“Unless we make a huge change in our cities, [they will be] 4 degrees Celsius higher than today within less than 50 years, we will end up with not enough water and all the seas will rise.” TreeTube can play a large role in helping to combat global warming, one tree at a time.