Urban Tree Canopy Prioritization (UTC): Experience from Baltimore

Abstract

The recently emerging shift in urban land management to an “all lands, all people” approach to achieve critical urban sustainability goals created the need to 1) characterize landcover at the unit of individual property units: i.e. property parcels, and 2) integrate social and ecological data corresponding to diverse, sustainability goals so that all neighborhoods and parcels can be prioritized. Currently, there are two types of UTC tools: 1) UTC Assessment and Monitoring tools are used to assess existing and potential urban tree canopy at a parcel level (2’ resolution) and regional extent; and 2) UTC Prioritization tools are used to identify where to increase urban tree canopy at watershed, neighborhood, and parcel levels based upon diverse stakeholders’ goals and preferences among goals. These goals may be ecological, social, and/or economic.In this presentation, we report on advances in our development of UTC Prioritization tools and their application in Baltimore, Maryland.