To reduce the heat effect in a city where the temperature can reach 120 degrees and more in the summer, an unprecedented effort is underway to plant more trees and build more shade structures.
Members of the Phoenix City Council have unanimously given a green light to a project that will see the planting of up to 27,000 new native trees throughout the city, with the majority of those trees being planted in often treeless underserved communities.
The project is the brainchild of the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, a city agency established in 2021 with the mission of establishing a strategic action plan to mitigate the impact of urban heat.
In discussing the project, Mayor Kate Gallego remarked that the effort comprises a “comprehensive, intentional, data-driven plan.”
The City will spend upwards of $60 million between now and 2029 to plant the trees and build upwards of five hundred shade structures.
The project has secured both federal and local funding.
Added Gallego: “These hundreds of structures and thousands of trees will be put in areas of the city where they are critically needed and where they will thrive.”
Plans call for the trees to be planted in parks, playgrounds, and both city-owned and private properties. The shade structures will vary in size, with screened roofs mitigating the sunlight.
According to the city document, Shade Phoenix-An Action Plan for Trees and Built Shade, many neighborhoods in the city have been built “without adequate tree cover or shade structures at vital outdoor areas, such as transit stops, commercial corridors, or playgrounds.”
An earlier city analysis revealed that only 11% of Phoenix is shaded at noon, a figure that the new tree-planting and shelter-building program hopes to improve upon.
November 22, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
