Academy in the Public Square
URBAN T REES
A THRIVING PARTNERSHIP
USC Dornsife and the city of Los Angeles have launched a partnership to guide the growth of an urban forest of shade trees in Eastside communities vulnerable to heat waves and air pollution in a warming global climate. Led by USC Dornsife Public Exchange, the USC Urban Trees Initiative provides a sciencebased approach to help advance L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Green New Deal, which aims to plant 90,000 trees citywide, increasing the forest canopy by 50% specifically in low-income heat zones by 2028. The initiative’s other collaborators include experts and students from USC Dornsife’s Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI), the Center for the Study of Urban Critical Zones, and the Landscape Architecture + Urbanism program, as well as the city’s Department of Public Works, community leaders and nonprofit organizations. The new blueprint by USC researchers identifies four places best suited to plant shade trees across L.A.’s Eastside to bring cooling relief to thousands of people most at risk of heat waves and air pollution. Better still, the scientific tools that the USC researchers used have wider applications to guide tree-planting efforts in other communities across L.A.
A NEW URBAN FOREST “Planting a thriving urban forest requires diligent planning and input from multiple perspectives,” says John Wilson, principal investigator for the project and director of SSI. “We have taken a deliberative approach based on robust data and community input to ensure that residents enjoy the many benefits of a rich canopy of trees.” 12
USC DORNSIFE PUBLIC EXCHANGE Rio de Los Angeles State Park
Ernest E. Debs Regional Park
Montecito Heights Open Space
LEGEND Study Area Boundary
Heritage Square
5
Schools
Mount Olympus Park
Rose Hill Park
Rose Hill Rec. Ctr
East Los Angeles Park
El Sereno Rec. Ctr
Lincoln Heights Youth Ctr
110
LAUSD Campuses Public Park & Open Space
El Sereno
Lincoln Heights
Elysian Park
USC Health Sciences Campus 0
El Sereno Senior Ctr
Miles 0.5
Ascot Hills Park
Lincoln Heights Rec. Ctr
Los Angeles State Historic Park Lincoln Park
710
Wellness Park & Fitness Ctr
10
USC Health Sciences Campus Hazard Rec Ctr
Henry Alvarez Memorial Park Ramona Gardens Park
Ramona Gardens
+90,000 Under L.A.’s Green New Deal, the city aims to plant 90,000 trees citywide.
1
Using an environmental justice lens, the USC Urban Trees Initiative focuses on a 3.5-square-mile zone northeast of USC’s Health Sciences campus in Boyle Heights. The zone encompasses much of the Eastside communities of El Sereno, Ramona Gardens and parts of Lincoln Heights. The area suffers from poor air quality and little shade. The median household income in the area is about half that of L.A.’s overall median income of nearly $62,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and people of color comprise most of the population.
+50%
+66%
L.A.’s Green New Deal calls for increasing the forest canopy by 50% specifically in low-income heat zones by 2028.
For example, at Ramona Gardens near Soto Street and Interstate 10, 183 trees could be added, a 66% increase.
2X
Experts say tree planting could double shade across L.A.’s Eastside.
