Resilient Urban Forest Master Plan & Urban Heat Island Assessment

Weston & Sampson worked with the City of Lowell to identify locations where the urban heat island (UHI) effect was most severe within the city, assessed the street trees in these locations, and developed strategies to increase the urban canopy cover to create an equitable urban forest across the city.

Lowell is 25.3 percent forested, with canopy cover by neighborhood ranging between 3.1 percent and 37.3 percent. Lowell’s neighborhoods vary in terms of land use type, with many sections of the city being highly impervious. These impervious sections have minimal canopy cover and often consist of commercial parcels and/or residential parcels located in neighborhoods with higher percentages of environmental justice populations. Sections of the city with more canopy cover often consist of parks and higher income neighborhoods containing tree-lined streets and yards. The UHI effect is felt the most in areas with limited canopy cover and extensive impervious surfaces. For Lowell, this means the UHI effect is most severe where at-risk populations are living and spending their time.