Title
Shade Phoenix Plan Draft
Description
This report presents to City Council the first draft of a new Shade Phoenix Plan. The goal of the Shade Phoenix Plan is to provide policy and program direction regarding the addition and maintenance of natural and built shade in Phoenix to protect public health, improve quality of life, and create community resilience.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
The Need for Shade
Shade is a critical infrastructure and community resource. Providing adequate shade is one of the most effective strategies to make outdoor urban environments safe and comfortable. Shade protects the human body from absorbing solar energy, which is the primary factor that determines outdoor thermal safety in hot weather. Shade also protects infrastructure from solar energy, which reduces the dangers of people interacting with hot surfaces and increases the life span of materials that degrade when exposed to the sun. Studies estimate that shade reduces the net heat burden on the human body by up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
As the City has evolved over time development standards have been updated and modernized, so older parts of the community have been built without adequate tree cover or shade structures at vital outdoor areas, such as transit stops and commercial corridors. This shade deficiency presents a significant risk to public health, particularly for residents with underlying health issues, and to our neighborhoods and Citywide economic vitality. Maintaining and expanding publicly available shade, with a focus on where people are most exposed to outdoor heat and where there are high concentrations of vulnerable populations, is critical to our future.
Vision and Values
The draft Shade Phoenix Plan proposes a vision of a future where all residents and visitors to Phoenix experience the benefits of trees and built shade throughout the City. The plan is anchored around a set of core values that shaped its development and will guide its implementation. Those values are to:
- Focus on people first. Target actions to keep people safe and focus on areas where shade can have the greatest impact on human health and wellbeing, with a focus on vulnerable populations;
- Recognize that shade (built and natural) is a critical infrastructure and a service provided to residents by public and private assets;
- Lead with an environmental justice/equity lens and address historical inequities;
- Respect the unique desert landscape and heritage of the Sonoran Desert, one of the most special places in the world;
- Collaborate within City government, between public and private actors, and with the communities of Phoenix. Increasing shade requires actions and support from Phoenicians and the City of Phoenix; and
- Go beyond the status quo. We cannot be afraid to innovate and take risks to change the current trajectory and realize our vision.
Assessment and Inventory
The Shade Phoenix Plan provides updated data regarding tree canopy and shade coverage in the City of Phoenix, as well as specific analysis and inventories for City of Phoenix property. The most recent tree canopy data indicates significant disparity in canopy coverage throughout Phoenix. Many neighborhoods in Central City South, West Phoenix, and along the Interstate 17 Corridor have tree canopy cover less than five percent, whereas other neighborhoods in Phoenix have canopy cover exceeding 25 percent. In high-income neighborhoods in Phoenix, tree canopy coverage is nearly double the amount as in lower-income neighborhoods. The median tree canopy cover in Phoenix Citywide is 10.9 percent. Total shade coverage from all built and natural sources follows similar patterns.
Detailed analysis for tree canopy and total shade coverage is provided for sidewalk areas in the City of Phoenix, which are consistently identified as a priority area for adding shade by the public. In early summer, total shade coverage on City sidewalks is estimated to be 17 percent at noon and 20 percent at mid-afternoon. These metrics fall below regional shade recommendations for pedestrian corridors. The plan further examines tree canopy coverage within City-managed landscape maintenance areas adjacent to streets and sidewalks. Tree canopy coverage within landscape maintenance areas follows a similar pattern to overall tree canopy coverage in Phoenix with significant spatial inequity.
The Shade Phoenix Plan provides a detailed accounting of tree and shade initiatives on City property and includes an action item to update the City's official tree inventory, which is estimated to include more than 100,000 trees. Over the past 15 years, at least 32,968 trees have been planted by the Street Transportation Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and Aviation Department. These plantings have helped the City maintain its recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA for 37 consecutive years. The Plan also includes analysis of built shade structures on City property, and it reports more than 3,000 bus stops with shade structures and another 639 shade structures at City of Phoenix parks.
Strategies and Actions
The draft Shade Phoenix Plan presents four broad strategies, 13 strategic priorities, and 37 specific actions to achieve its vision. The strategies and strategic priorities are as follows:
- Strategy 1 is to Educate and Empower, so that all Phoenicians understand the importance and values of trees and shade and how they can support them. Strategic priorities are to create a Citywide movement around shade and heat and to provide public education around sustainable and equitable shade practices.
- Strategy 2 is to Expand Shade, increasing shade for people where they need it most. Strategic priorities are to increase shade for children, increase shade on City-owned properties, increase shade on public right-of-way, and increase shade on private properties.
- Strategy 3 is to Preserve and Maintain Existing Shade, ensuring that the community is working together to support a thriving urban forest and well-maintained built shade. Strategic priorities are to care for and maintain trees and shade structures on public property, to strengthen code enforcement on private property, and to increase City capacity to maintain trees and shade.
- Strategy 4 is to Evaluate and Institutionalize the ongoing implementation and improvement of shade efforts to scale their impacts and maximize benefits. Strategic priorities are to monitor and evaluate progress on the Shade Phoenix Plan, to strengthen organizational coordination and staff capacity, to strengthen regulations, design standards, and guidelines, and to create and expand pathways for careers in urban forestry.
Collectively, the 37 actions in the Shade Phoenix Plan represent at least $50,000,000 in allocated and planned funding that will be directed toward tree and shade initiatives in the next five years, from a combination of local, federal, and private sources. More than half of the funding has been committed in the past two years. Of the total investment, 50 percent is anticipated to be made in low to moderate-income communities in the City of Phoenix and 90 percent is anticipated to be made in low, moderate, and middle-income communities.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
- City Council approved General Plan Update 2025 on April 17, 2024; and
- City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with American Forests on Tree Equity on April 21, 2021; and
- City Council approved the Phoenix Tree and Shade Master Plan on Jan. 5, 2010.
Public Outreach
In the nearly 15 years since the 2010 Tree and Shade Master Plan was adopted, a wide range of City and community-driven initiatives have generated new perspectives, needs, and opportunities to guide the City’s tree and shade efforts moving forward. The Shade Phoenix Plan is built upon community input and lessons learned over that 15-year period, as well as specific stakeholder and public engagement activities designed to inform the new plan.
Stakeholder and public engagement activities for the Shade Phoenix Plan accelerated in 2023 and included meetings with all Village Planning Committees, Community Sustainability Workshops attended by more than 600 residents, and an online Tree and Shade Community Feedback Questionnaire that has received more than 700 responses. Guidance for the Shade Phoenix Plan has also been sourced from prior and ongoing efforts of the City of Phoenix Environmental Quality and Sustainability Commission and other public advisory boards and commissions, the Metro Phoenix Urban Forestry Roundtable, the Nature Conservancy Heat Action Planning Guide for Greater Phoenix, public comment at City Council meetings and budget hearings, and academic research.
Additional public and stakeholder engagement is planned for summer and fall of 2024 following the introduction of the draft Shade Phoenix Plan. This engagement will include workshops with key stakeholder groups as well as targeted efforts to build awareness of the Shade Phoenix Plan and promote the public questionnaire in neighborhoods with lower response rates.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation.