Seeing Green with Treepedia
How green is your city? Treepedia knows!
Researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, launched TREEPEDIA a few years ago, a platform that uses Google Street View data to measure and compare the green canopy in cities around the world and provide a novel and unique way to judge the “greenness” of our cities. And it is possibly more important today than ever.
Increasing a city’s tree canopy contributes to lowering urban temperatures by blocking shortwave radiation and increasing water evaporation. Creating more comfortable microclimates, trees also mitigate air pollution caused by everyday urban activities. Their absorptive root systems also help avoid floods during severe rains and storm surges. However, the average city dweller is often removed from understanding the individual features and potential benefits of their unique environmental habitats.
As many cities experience warming temperatures, increased storm frequency, and continued air pollution, the well-being of our urban trees has never been more important. We present here an index by which to compare cities against one another, encouraging local authorities and communities to take action to protect and promote the green canopy cover,”Carlo Ratti, Director of the Senseable City Lab.
Initially launched with data from 10 cities the project now features over 30 and growing. Users can immediately perceive which areas are green and not green in a city, investigate the amount of green coverage at a given point, and compare their city to different cities around the world. In the future, it is hoped that users will also be able to add unique tree information on an open-source street map and engage with city officials in order to request that new trees be planted in certain areas.
You can find out more and explore the Treepedia data for yourself at https://senseable.mit.edu/treepedia
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