Urban Trees: Battling Heat, Climate Change, and Crime

Trees are vital in combating climate change and mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect. They provide shade, which reduces heat absorption by surfaces like roads and buildings, and cool the air through evapotranspiration, where moisture released from their leaves further lowers temperatures. Additionally, trees store carbon dioxide and filter air pollution, enhancing their role in reducing elevated urban temperatures and improving overall air quality.

The benefits of trees extend beyond environmental impacts to include improvements in mental health, social well-being, and economic development through strategic green infrastructure design in urban areas.

In many Canadian cities, Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) can benefit from a tree planting program. By enriching these areas with greenery, cities can attract attention and boost commercial traffic, demonstrating that enhancing a neighbourhood with nature can indeed drive economic and social vitality.

Additionally, the presence of trees in urban areas have been linked to lower crime rates, as green spaces foster community engagement and vigilance, which can deter criminal activity. This sense of safety and well-being enhances neighbourhood attractiveness and livability, showing that investing in green infrastructure supports not only environmental and economic goals but also safer, more vibrant communities.

In this lesson, you will use ArcGIS Online to analyze and identify optimal locations for planting public trees in Windsor, Ontario to support the goal of a healthier and more sustainable city for its residents. Your assessment will consider factors such as land surface temperature, existing tree coverage, population density, heat vulnerability index, and incident reporting.

Inspiration for this lesson comes from the  2022 Skills Ontario GIS competition  question.

This lesson includes three (3) inquiries linked to where to plant public trees in Windsor to mitigate climate change and the Urban Heat Island Effect.

We have included the time required for each inquiry. Depending on your allotted time, your students can complete as many inquiries as you see fit.

Time Required to Complete Lesson: Completing all inquiries and tutorials will take approximately 2 hours.

This question sheet can be printed out or shared online for the students to use when answering the questions throughout the lesson.

In this lesson, you will take on the role of a GIS Analyst for the City of Windsor, Ontario. Your task is to use ArcGIS Online to identify the best locations for planting public trees. This effort aims to enhance the city’s sustainability, improve public health, and support climate change mitigation by reducing urban heat. Your work will contribute to creating a more resilient and eco-friendly environment for Windsor’s residents.

It is recommended that you complete the following tutorials before you move on to doing the lesson. Video and text tutorials are included throughout the Lesson for your reference. Look for the💡.

Text Tutorial

1.   Adding and Working with Data in the Map Viewer   (30 minutes)

Video Tutorials

1. Create a Merge in  Inquiry #2  (1 minute)
2. Create an Overlay in  Inquiry #3  (1.5 minutes)
3. Create a Spatial Query in  Inquiry #3  - there are two (2) videos - one for each query in this section (1.5 minutes each)

Using ArcGIS Online, you are going to explore a map showing land surface temperature captured with the Landsat 8 satellite on June 30, 2020 of the  Essex County . The City of Windsor is part of this region.

1. Open the  Inquiry 1 map  and Sign into your account.
2. Click on Legend to see what the temperature variance is on the map.
3. Explore the map showing Land Surface Temperature of the Essex region.

Q1) What patterns and differences in land surface temperature do you notice between the Windsor and larger Essex region?

Q2) What factors contribute to temperature differences in areas affected by the  Urban Heat Island Effect ?

1. Zoom into Windsor.
2. Make the Windsor Wards visible on your map
3. Change the basemap to Imagery Hybrid and then explore the map.
4. Save the map and name it something appropriate.

Q3) In which wards do the hot regions fall and what do you think these places represent?

You will conduct analysis to figure out the optimal places to plant public trees in Windsor based on the following factors:

1. Locate the the sidewalks that do not have a tree within 5 metres.
2. Find the areas with high population density
3. Find the areas with high incident reporting (crime)
4. Locate the areas that are high on the Heat Vulnerability Index

As you go through each factor, the maps that you analyse will allow you to see a clearer picture of where to plant public trees in Windsor. The final analysis will help you identify the areas to recommend for the public tree expansion. Let's begin!

In this lesson, you used ArcGIS Online to analyze data on Windsor's land surface temperature, existing tree coverage, population density, heat vulnerability index, and crime rates. Your goal was to identify and propose optimal locations for planting public trees to mitigate climate change and address the Urban Heat Island Effect in the city’s most impacted areas.

Want to learn more about ArcGIS Analysis? Check out the following tutorial:

Want to learn about the impact of the Emerald Ash Borer in Oavkille, Ontario?