Tree Canopy Cover as a
Tool for Justice in Chicago

Trees can benefit the health of those around them. We looked at who is missing out on these benefits and what we can do to create change.

All work done in colaboration with Patricia Favila, UCCS

What is tree canopy?

Tree canopy is defined as the land within an area that is covered by the leaves of trees, which allows these areas to be more shaded than others. Tree canopy cover has numerous benefits.

In this map, we can see that tree canopy cover is higher in the northern community areas of Chicago, and lacking on the south and west sides.

Flood Risk

Flood risk defines the likelihood of an area to experience flooding. In addition to providing shade, planting trees can reduce the risk of flooding.

Air Quality Index

AQI measures the number of hazardous particles in the air. Trees can absorb these particles, removing them from the air and promoting respiratory health for humans.

Hardship Index

The Hardship Index measures hardship by factoring demographic, educational, and economic variables. Areas with lower tree canopy tend to have higher hardship.

Plantable Area

Plantable area is defined as proportion of land within a given area that is currently able to be used to plant trees. This includes bare soil, unused greenspace, and unused sidewalks and parking lots.

In this spatial representation of plantable area in Chicago, we can see that areas of high hardship and low tree canopy cover, like the south and west sides, have high proportions of land that are plantable. We see these areas as high opportunity locations for tree planting efforts.

Correlation

Using a bivariate map, we can see areas that are both high in hardship index and plantable area (colored in blue and purple). We believe these are the community areas and neighborhoods that should specifically be targeted with tree planting efforts.

Here, we can see how tree canopy correlates with other variables in our data, as well as how well those variables correlate with each other.

Data sources:

Morton Arboretum, Chicago Region Trees Initiative

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Community Data Snapshots

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Tree Canopy Cover as a Tool for Justice in Chicago