Urban forests are recognized worldwide as the most critical component of green infrastructure due to their capacity to providevarious environmental goods and services. As cities continue to expand and their environmental problems intensify,there is a growing need for urban forests and green infrastructure to be better incorporated into strategic land-use planning,especially in developing countries. In Mexico, urban forestry is still an emergent discipline and is mostly considered within the frame of arboriculture, without considering a broader persepective of urban forest management and planning. Since 2015, in collaboration with the University of Toronto in Canada and several institutions in Mexico, I have developed research in urban forestry in two cities in Mexico: Mexico City (the most populated city in North America) and Xalapa (a smaller city sorounded by the tropical montane cloud forest). In Mexico City we developed the first city-wide characterization of the structure and composition of the urban forest that served as basis for urban forest mapping and spatial planning across the entire city. In the city of Xalapa we've been working on urban and peri-urban forests investigating topics such as natural tree regeneration patterns and urban forest restoration and how environmental variables affect the survival and growth of native tree species. We expect that these pioneer work will contribute to expanding the field of urban forestry as a scientific discipline in Mexico and Latin American countries, as well as contributing to the knowledge of ecological patterns in urbanized landscapes, and support decision-making in urban forest planning,including the identification of available planting spaces, tree diversity targets, and canopy protection.