Green Streets Health Impact Assessment

About This Episode

In 2016, Massachusetts planners and members of the American Planning Association's Sustainable Communities Division (APA-SCD) partnered with Groundwork Lawrence on a volunteer service project to measure the health benefits of the Green Streets Program. This program's goal is to plant 2,400 trees throughout the City of Lawrence over 3 years. To promote the program and achieve this goal, APA-SCD worked collaboratively with Groundwork Lawrence and residents in Lawrence to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to analyze the potential health benefits of street tree planting in the city.

Throughout the project, the APA-SCD team documented their steps to ensure this process could be replicated by planners in any community around the country. The result was a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the physical, environmental, and social impacts of street tree planting in Lawrence.

Photo by Flickr user Subhash Roy.

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