Mapping city trees to encourage governments to do more

CITY TREES –

One point, one tree . Thanks to the Treepedia platform , created as a project by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Senseable City Lab , directed by Carlo Ratti, it is now possible to know, neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, where trees are located in every city . A true mapping of greenery and the individual plants that thrive there, providing fresh air and well-being to citizens in metropolises. This survey doesn't serve to draw up yet another ranking of the world's best municipalities in terms of maintaining and implementing public greenery, but rather to encourage administrators and citizens themselves to increase the number of trees in cities . A goal we should all have, in all the cities where we live. And thanks to Treepedia 's mapping , each councilor, as well as each citizen and association, is informed in real time about the green spaces in the various neighborhoods of the city. And, thanks to a new awareness, they can act accordingly.

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The photo is taken from the Treepedia website

MAPPING TREE LAND IN THE CITY –

The census is based on a platform called the Green View Index , which measures the degree of greenery on a street based on the number of trees . Specifically, the MIT project aims to indicate the tree cover of individual areas, thus providing citizens with a useful tool for evaluating the administrations' ability to address this issue. This is an aspect that should not be underestimated: trees help mitigate extreme temperatures and provide natural shelter from city noise, as well as contributing to soil stability . The project's goal is to directly involve citizens in the virtuous process of greening our cities.

GREEN AREAS IN THE CITY –

The goal of each of us, according to the researchers, should be to encourage authorities and local communities to take action to protect the green cover of cities. For this reason, the project presents an index to compare metropolises with each other, not to create rankings but to aspire to imitate successful models . In the future, the platform aims to become a sort of social network connecting people and trees, although only a dozen cities are currently mapped. For now, the greenest city is Vancouver with a score of 25,9, followed by Sacramento and Geneva, while the cities with the fewest trees are Paris with 8,8, followed by London with 12,7, and New York with 13,5. Of the Italian cities, only Turin is present, placing mid-table with a solid score of 16,2.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE TREES IN CITIES?

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