Phoenix City parks and street landscapes are home to a veritable forest in the city that adds millions of dollars worth of benefits to quality of life by improving air quality, storm water management, energy savings, shade and aesthetics.
Benefits outweight costs of Phoenix
Arizona State University and the forestry team have worked together to illustrate the importance of Urban Tree Planting and to share their findings that both the financial, environmental, and social benefits of planting the right trees in the urban environment will greatly outweigh the cost of the tree planting and maintenance.
Parks and Recreation Department staff also have led the City's Tree and Shade Task Force, a multi-department team mapping an aggressive strategy to improve the city's tree and shade canopy, a crucial element in keeping the city livable in the decades to come.
Actions in the plan prioritize places in Phoenix where people are outside the most and populations most vulnerable to extreme heat.
In the hottest large city in the country, shade is critical infrastructure and a community resource. Extreme heat presents a significant risk to the public health of Phoenicians. The Shade Phoenix Plan is an update to and expansion of the City’s 2010 Tree and Shade Master Plan and outlines the actions the City and its partners will take over the next five years to accelerate the creation and enhance the maintenance of shade in Phoenix. These actions explicitly focus on the city’s most vulnerable residents and the places where people are outside the most.
The plan will help us achieve our overarching vision to create a future where all community members and visitors to Phoenix experience the benefits of trees and built shade throughout the city. Shade Phoenix is a data-driven plan, leveraging detailed analysis of citywide tree and shade data across City-owned, public, and private properties.
The Mesquite, Prosopis velutina accounts for 8.8 percent of the trees in those areas. Blue Palo Verde, Parkinsonia florida ranks second at 6.8 percent. Below is a listing of other common trees found in the Phoenix area:
