A new tree grows in Brooklyn \u2013 but is it in the right place to optimize shade that protects residents from dangerous summer heat?<\/p>\n
A research partnership between Cornell Tech, New York City and New Yorkers for Parks aims to help heat-vulnerable communities in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx answer that question, leveraging advanced analytics and local input to determine where trees are needed most to improve public health.<\/p>\n
At the university\u2019s Roosevelt Island campus on Aug. 5, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and a half-dozen council members joined Cornell Tech leaders and advocates to announce a new initiative, \u201cThe Generative Canopy.\u201d Collaborating primarily with three community boards, officials said the yearlong, $250,000 project could serve as a model for how urban data can empower local communities to fight climate change and build cooler and healthier cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrees are green infrastructure that can help urban systems adapt to the more extreme weather we\u2019re all seeing, from intense rainfall to heat waves,\u201d said Michael Samuelian, founding director of the Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Technion Cornell Institute and the director of campus planning and sustainability at Cornell Tech. \u201cNatural solutions can help mitigate some of the worst effects of climate change, but there\u2019s a lot of technology behind where to put these nature-based solutions and how to engineer them. This is a great example of taking technology from our labs and bringing it directly to the people of New York City who need it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menin said New Yorkers know what it\u2019s like to search for scraps of shade on scorching summer days \u2013 a more difficult task in some neighborhoods, where residents face a disproportionate risk of heat-related injury or death.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy determining how much shade is delivered to specific sidewalks, we can identify which areas are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat and which areas need more trees to be able to mitigate that,\u201d Menin said. \u201cThat means that we can direct resources to neighborhoods that need it the most … combining the forces of innovation and environmental justice to protect public health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, an independent advocate for quality parks and open spaces, said the organization has worked with Cornell\u2019s tree canopy researchers for about five years, helping to identify high-risk communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see the temperature differential between those neighborhoods and adjacent neighborhoods could be up to 10 degrees different, which is oftentimes a life-and-death issue,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I really appreciate about the work here at Cornell Tech is that they\u2019ve done the effort to make sure the technology and research gets in the hands of the people who need it most. Our role is to do that, is to connect this research with people. … We\u2019re excited to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other City Council members\u202fparticipating in the press conference included the chairs of two related committees: Carmen De La Rosa, Technology; and Ty Hankerson, Parks and Recreation. University participants included Greg Morrisett, the Jack and Rilla Neafsey Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech.<\/p>\n
The Generative Canopy will develop a \u201cversion 2.0\u201d of Tree Folio NYC<\/a>, a web-based tool developed jointly by the College of Architecture, Art and Planning\u2019s (AAP) Design Across Scales Lab<\/a> and the Urban Tech Hub. The first version of the high-resolution, 3D model created a digital twin of New York\u2019s urban canopy<\/a> that enables visualizations of individual trees and their cooling benefits, which vary based on factors ranging from tree size and type to street orientation and building heights.<\/p>\n Samuelian said the next generation of the project will be more generative and interactive, integrating advanced AI, aerial imagery, existing\u202ftree\u202fcensus data and climate forecasting to help communities identify where new canopy is needed to reduce heat risk. The project\u2019s co-principal investigators are Anthony Townsend<\/a>, senior research associate at the Urban Tech Hub, and Alexander Kobald<\/a>, associate director of the Design Across Scales Lab, which is led by J. Meejin Yoon, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of AAP.<\/p>\n Extreme heat is the city\u2019s deadliest natural disaster, officials said, disproportionately affecting vulnerable neighborhoods with high densities of impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt, known as heat islands. Canopy deficits in such areas are correlated with poor health outcomes. Over the next year, The Generative Canopy will focus on three community districts that are significantly \u201cunder-canopied,\u201d with elevated heat vulnerability. Those neighborhoods and districts are:<\/p>\n East New York, Brooklyn (Bk2)Corona and Elmhurst, Queens (Qn4)Hunts Point and Longwood, the Bronx (Bx2)<\/p>\n