Shade in Austin: Is it the same for everyone?
The Shade Map, developed by American Forests and the UCLA Luskin Center of Innovation, indicates that Austin has approximately 33 million trees providing natural shade and cooling. This number places the city at a 92 on the Tree Equity Score, indicating strong overall tree coverage for the city overall.
While this number is high, tree distribution is not necessarily equal across neighborhoods, meaning not everyone receives the same coverage, the study found. People can use the map to see how shady routes to school or work are. The map shows west Austin has more shade than east Austin.
It also found most shade to sidewalks, in particular, comes from trees.
How cool are trees? Austin tree canopy is growing
'Austin sidewalks get on average 30-60% shade over the course of a day – leaving residents in the full sun at least half the time when commuting to school or work. Even the lushest neighborhoods with extensive tree cover have only 49% shade at noon,' American Forests said in a release.
According to the Shade Map, trees provide 300 times more shade than buildings at midday, highlighting the crucial role trees play in urban heat protection, according to Benita Hussain at American Forests.
With temperatures frequently rising above 100 degrees in Austin, shade aids in preventing extreme heat exposure. Using the tree equality score feature on the shade map, Hussain urges the City of Austin to collaborate with organizations such as TreeFolks and the Austin Parks Foundation to fill in the gaps. Hussain also stated it is important to maintain and protect existing tree infrastructure and consider trees as 'living infrastructure' — not just greenery, but essential for urban health.
Check pavement temperatures before walking your dog
'It's everything from protecting our current trees in those spots in addition to certainly planting more trees,' Hussain said.
'We want cities to say, 'Look. Look at the shade, look at the trees, and the cooling benefits,'' Hussain said. 'How do we invest in places that don't have enough trees? We don't have enough shade in order to meet what we see is a public health need across the city. What would it take to be able to address some of those areas that might be problem spots that have less tree cover?'
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