Skip to main content
Duke University Libraries
DukeSpace Scholarship by Duke Authors
  • Login
  • Ask
  • Menu
  • Login
  • Ask a Librarian
  • Search & Find
  • Using the Library
  • Research Support
  • Course Support
  • Libraries
  • About
View Item 
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
  • View Item
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Planning a Sustainable Tree Canopy for Durham

Thumbnail
View / Download
10.8 Mb
Date
2020-04-24
Authors
Hancock, Grace
Vanko, Alex
Xiong, Mingfei
Advisors
Cagle, Nicolette
Swenson, Jennifer
Repository Usage Stats
713
views
379
downloads
Abstract
Trees are a vital part of a city’s infrastructure. The urban forest provides many ecosystem services to residents including health benefits, air pollution removal, extreme heat reduction, stormwater mitigation, and even lower violent crime rates. Durham, North Carolina is 52% covered by trees, but its canopy is declining from urban development, and it is unevenly distributed due to a history of racial and socioeconomic inequity. Parts of the city that are more urbanized, non-white, and poor tend to have far less tree cover than more rural, white, affluent areas. This Masters Project sought to help TreesDurham and the City of Durham plan a sustainable tree canopy that meets the city’s goal of 55% cover by 2040. Expansion of Durham’s urban forest must address the concerns of the community, maximize ecosystem services, and consider possible changes to city development codes. We addressed these needs by (1) conducting a community survey to understand Durham residents’ attitudes towards city trees, (2) creating a tree-planting prioritization map based on ecosystem services, and (3) modeling the future of Durham’s urban forest under multiple development scenarios. We recommend that TreesDurham and the City of Durham (1) incorporate input from Durham residents, (2) target tree-planting to the areas that need tree ecosystem services the most, including heavily urbanized areas and roadside rights-of-way, and (3) greatly increase tree protection requirements in Durham’s development code. This will ensure that all residents of Durham enjoy access to the benefits of the urban forest.
Type
Master's project
Department
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Subject
Trees
Urban forest
Ecosystem services
Green infrastructure
Urban planning
Urban ecology
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20539
Citation
Hancock, Grace; Vanko, Alex; & Xiong, Mingfei (2020). Planning a Sustainable Tree Canopy for Durham. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20539.
Collections
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
More Info
Show full item record
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment


Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info

Make Your Work Available Here

How to Deposit

Browse

All of DukeSpaceCommunities & CollectionsAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit Date

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

View Usage Statistics
Duke University Libraries

Contact Us

411 Chapel Drive
Durham, NC 27708
(919) 660-5870
Perkins Library Service Desk

Digital Repositories at Duke

  • Report a problem with the repositories
  • About digital repositories at Duke
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Deaccession and DMCA Takedown Policy

TwitterFacebookYouTubeFlickrInstagramBlogs

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
  • Re-use & Attribution / Privacy
  • Harmful Language Statement
  • Support the Libraries
Duke University