Guiding Street Tree Planting to Mitigate Extreme Heat in Worcester

Martindale, David L.; Abouaf, Isaac F.; Abell, Phillip Benjamin; Jesionka, Natallie

Student Work

Guiding Street Tree Planting to Mitigate Extreme Heat in Worcester Public

Our project had the goal of preparing Worcester for increased temperatures given the trend of heat islands to assist the Worcester Planning Office. We used online tools to view streets in Worcester, test community engagement methods, and locate neighborhoods that would most benefit from tree planting. We found that there are many existing trees in Worcester that are too young to provide shade for pedestrians and the trees will require at least 5-10 years before offering suitable cooling effects. In the meantime, we recommend that projects continuing this work interact with community members to implement additional solutions to the heat island issue.

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