The city has outlined 11 strategic priorities aimed at addressing the risks of extreme heat and protecting vulnerable residents from its impacts.
A plan dubbed ‘Shade Phoenix’ pledges to plant 27,000 trees and build 550 shade structure in Phoenix in the next five years to tackle the growing problem of extreme heat.
In a piece for Environment and Energy Leader, Kaleigh Harrison explains that the initiative is part of the city’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, the first such department in the nation. “The Shade Phoenix Plan includes 36 action items and 11 strategic priorities aimed at reducing heat vulnerability. These initiatives incorporate cooling strategies like cool corridors and heat-reducing materials.”
The plan also emphasizes equity, noting that resources should be fairly distributed among the city’s neighborhoods and address the needs of communities most vulnerable to extreme heat. “City officials stress that shade infrastructure is essential public health infrastructure, not just an aesthetic upgrade. Extensive community outreach shaped the plan, ensuring it addresses diverse.”
FULL STORY: Phoenix Launches Shade Plan to Tackle Urban Heat Crisis
Copenhagen is losing its cool
In a city long designed to maximize light during dark Scandinavian winters, climate change is forcing the Danish capital to rethink its relationship with the sun.
Cool Routes app plots shady walks in arid Arizona
Alternate routes provided by the app reduced the heat experienced during the walk by an average of 4.5 degrees.
Phoenix Shade Plan Focuses on Bus Stops
The city’s updated Shade Master Plan calls for trees and built structures at bus stops to protect residents from heat.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association