As extreme weather intensifies, cities are using trees to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce energy consumption.
Rather than seeing trees simply as a form of beautification, writes Joss Fong, it's time to acknowledge their role as "a living form of infrastructure, providing services that include stormwater management, air filtering, carbon sequestration, and, most importantly for a city like Phoenix, Arizona, they cool the environment around them."
With extreme heat waves happening with increasing frequency, Sun Belt cities like Phoenix are exploring a variety of ways to cool their urban cores and reduce energy demand during the summer months. "Phoenix recently pledged to reach 'tree equity' by 2030, under an agreement with American Forests, a national tree organization."
This video from Vox uses drone imagery and thermal cameras to show "how the urban design of the city contributes to extreme heat, and what it can do to cool down."
FULL STORY: How America’s hottest city is trying to cool down
The Problem with Tree Planting Programs
Ambitious campaigns to plant trees in urban areas often don't take into account the complexities of growing and maintaining effective urban forests.
Tree Equity Score: The U.S. Needs 522 Million More Urban Trees
As climate change intensifies the urban heat island effect, poorer neighborhoods bear the brunt of tree canopy inequity.
To Combat Rising Heat Deaths, Phoenix Creates Heat Response and Mitigation Office
As more extreme temperatures lead to an alarming rise in heat-related deaths across the country, Phoenix is taking action with the nation's first public heat response office.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.
New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.
How To Sustain the E-Bike Boom: Make Riders Feel Safe
Riders of electric and non-electric bikes alike agree that they would ride more if they felt safer on city streets, signaling a need for an increased focus on bike infrastructure.
Zoning Stands in the Way of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is cheap as ever, but zoning isn’t keeping up with the market.
Mixed Use Could Lower Neighborhood Crime Rates
New research shows areas with a heavy concentration of commercial offices experience 40 percent higher crime rates than neighborhoods that mix residential and commercial uses.
City & Borough of Juneau
City & Borough of Juneau
DMR Architects
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
