We hope this map can help Philadelphians advocate for a greener, more vibrant city.
Fairmount Park Conservancy’s mission is to bring Philadelphia’s parks to life. We are engaged in a number of Philadelphia-wide programs that promote trees and are a key partner on the TreePhilly program and the Philadelphia Urban Forest Strategic Plan.
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation connects the city’s residents to the natural world, to each other, and to fun physical and social opportunities. Parks & Recreation is the lead partner on the TreePhilly program and the Philadelphia Urban Forest Strategic Plan.
In 2018, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation worked with the Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab to collect data on the city’s tree canopy. The City released the Philadelphia Tree Canopy Assessment report in 2019, revealing a loss of 6% of the existing canopy between 2008-2018. The tree canopy coverage data is publicly accessible in a geospatial format, but is difficult to access for the average Philadelphian.
Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation worked with Azavea to put the tree canopy data on this interactive map with the goal of making the data more accessible and useful to residents at the neighborhood level. We hope this map will help Philadelphians understand how the tree canopy in their neighborhoods has changed over time and how certain sociodemographic factors are related to tree canopy.
Source: University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Laboratory for the Philadelphia 2018 Tree Canopy Assessment
This dataset was developed as part of an Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) assessment for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It shows how tree canopy changed during the period 2008-2018, highlighting trees that were gained or lost during the 10-year period. It is intended for use in monitoring patterns of change in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania tree canopy.
Source: The Philadelphia Department of Public Health
The Heat Exposure layer is part of the Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI). The HVI summarizes the key factors associated with the negative health effects of extreme heat events. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) characterizes extreme heat events as periods of summertime weather that are substantially hotter and/or more humid than typical for a given location at that time of year.
Source: The American Community Survey (ACS)
These factors were selected for Philadelphia to show the social and environmental justice relationships of tree canopy coverage. There are studies that show that urban tree survival is related to economic factors and homeownership.
For more information about these dataset read more from the census data:
Source: Center for Disease Control
There are studies that show there is a correlation between tree canopy coverage and Asthma. We included data from the 500 Cities: Local Data for Better Health, 2019 release on Asthma rates in Philadelphia.
As of 2018, trees covered 20% of Philadelphia’s landscape. This map shows the change in Philadelphia’s tree canopy between 2008 and 2018, a time period during which Philadelphia lost 6% of its tree coverage. Roughly 1,095 acres of trees were removed or died during this time period– the equivalent of 100 football fields every year – due to development, storm damage, pests, and other factors.
Trees provide critical benefits like cleaning pollutants from our air and water, cooling our homes, reducing our stress levels, and creating habitat, so tree canopy is an environmental justice issue. Areas with more trees tend to have a higher overall quality of life.