Fast Fact Library

A systematic literature review found that the most efficient landscape typologies in cooling urban air temperatures are botanic gardens (6.3 to 9°F of cooling on average), wetlands (5.8 to 8.8°F), green walls (7.4...

Kumar, Prashant, Sisay E. Debele, Soheila Khalili, Christos H. Halios, Jeetendra Sahani, Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Maria de Fatima Andrade, Maria Athanassiadou, Kamaldeep Bhui, Nerea Calvillo, Shi-Jie Cao, Frederic Coulon, Jill L. Edmondson, David Fletcher, Edmilson Dias de Freitas, Hai Guo, Matthew C. Hort, Madhusudan Katti, Thomas Rodding Kjeldsen, Steffen Lehmann, Giuliano Maselli Locosselli, Shelagh K. Malham, Lidia Morawska, Rajan Parajuli, Christopher D.F. Rogers, Runming Yao, Fang Wang, Jannis Wenk, and Laurence Jones. “Urban Heat Mitigation by Green and Blue Infrastructure: Drivers, Effectiveness, and Future Needs.” The Innovation 5, No. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588

Urban greenery can play a significant role in absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide. According to a Columbia University study, trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, and grasses in the five boroughs of New York City...

Wei, Dandan, Andrew Reinmann, Luke D. Schifer, and Roisin Commane. High resolution modeling of vegetation reveals large summertime biogenic CO₂ fluxes in New York City. Environmental Research Letters 17, 12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca68f.

Street trees can reduce non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality. In a study of street trees planted in Portland over 30 years, planting 11.7 trees annually in each census tract was associated with 15.6 fewer non...

Donovan, Geoffrey H., Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Demetrios Gatziolis, Yvonne L. Michael, Abigail R. Kaminski, and Payam Dadvand. “The association between tree planting and mortality: A natural experiment and cost-benefit analysis.” Environment International 170 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107609.

Children growing up in environments with more vegetation, especially with more trees, achieved more positive early childhood development outcomes as compared to children growing in environments with more paved...

Jarvis, Ingrid, Hind Sbihi, Zoë Davis, Michael Brauer, Agatha Czekajlo, Hugh W. Davies, Sarah E. Gergel, Martin Guhn, Michael Jerrett, Mieke Koehoorn, Lorien Nesbitt, Tim F. Oberlander, Jason Su, and Matilda van den Bosch. “The influence of early-life residential exposure to different vegetation types and paved surfaces on early childhood development: A population-based birth cohort study.” Environment International 163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107196

A statistical analysis of a 3D model of a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood estimated that if the neighborhood's trees were all mature, surface temperatures would be lowered by 3.48° F. 20 additional mature trees would...

Park, Yujin, Jean-Michel Guldmann, and Deshen Liu. “Impacts of Tree and Building Shades on the Urban Heat Island: Combining Remote Sensing, 3D Digital City and Spatial Regression Approaches.” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 88 (2021): 131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2021.101655.

Greening in and around schoolyards can improve academic achievement. A study of 450 public schools in Washington state showed positive relationships between school greenness and academic achievement in sixth graders...

Kuo, Ming, Samantha E Klein, Matthew HEM Browning, and Jaime Zaplatosch. “Greening for academic achievement: Prioritizing what to plant and where.” Landscape and Urban Planning 206 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103962.

A cross-sectional study of almost 47,000 Australian residents showed that higher percentage of tree cover within one mile of their residence was associated with lower prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and...

Thomas Astell-Burt, and Feng, Xiaoqi. “Urban green space, tree canopy and prevention of cardiometabolic diseases: a multilevel longitudinal study of 46,786 Australians.” International Journal of Epidemiology 49, Issue 3 (2020): 926–933. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz239.

Trees with small leaf size and high leaf complexity and trees with long "in leaf" periods like evergreens generally make the most effective barriers against roadside pollution and offer the most air quality benefits...

Barwise, Yendle, and Prashant Kumar. “Designing vegetation barriers for urban air pollution abatement: a practical review for appropriate plant species selection” npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 3, no. 12 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-020-0115-3.