ABSTRACT
While the urban forest is valued for the many environmental benefits it provides-such as reducing storm water flow, impeding soil erosion, and mitigating the urban heat island effect-a large and growing body of evidence points to the social and public health benefits of strategically planted trees. These include improvements to human health (Takano et al. 2002; Lovasi et al. 2008; Mitchell and Popham 2008), energy savings (Akbari and Konopacki 2005), and higher market values for homes (Payton et al. 2008; Sander et al. 2010). An increase in urban tree canopy (UTC) has also been linked to lower crime rates (Kuo and Sullivan 2001; Troy et al. 2012). For these and other reasons, cities across the U.S. are measuring tree canopy, adopting UTC goals, and developing programs to pursue these goals (United States Conference of Mayors 2008). Grow Boston
Greener, Million Trees LA, MillionTreesNYC, and The Chicago Tree Initiative are just a few examples of programs with ambitious plans in place to increase canopy coverage in their respective cities.
