Swapping Cars for Trees on London’s Hottest Streets
Did you know that tree canopy can reduce street temperatures by as much as eight degrees? As well as keeping temperatures within safe limits, planting trees on our streets can help filter the air, draw down carbon and just make your neighbourhood a nicer place to live or walk through.
Cars, on the other hand, do the exact opposite - new research shows that parked cars can increase street temperatures by almost four degrees.* The average car in London is parked for 95% of the time, and in inner London, two thirds of cars are parked at the kerbside, making our streets hotter and hotter, the longer they are parked.
That’s why, at Possible, we are working with communities and councils in some London Boroughs to repurpose under-used car parking spaces for tree planting.
By 2050, London is expected to have the climate of Barcelona, and heat waves of 40 degrees centigrade (like the ones we experienced in 2022) are predicted to be a regular occurrence**. So it’s essential that we find ways to adapt our urban streets to hotter summers, and increasing tree canopy in the worst affected areas is one of the best ways to do this.
But many of London’s streets don’t have sufficient space to plant trees on the footway without causing access problems, particularly for those who are wheeling such as wheelchair/mobility scooter users and pushchairs. A huge proportion of street space at the kerbside is given over to car parking, but in inner London, less than 50% of households own a car. So the obvious solution is to reclaim some of that space to provide the tree canopy that is so badly needed in the worst affected areas.
We’ve built an interactive map to show where planting kerbside trees will make the most impact. We know that some of our most under-served communities are the people most exposed to extreme heat - and that’s why we’re asking councils to focus planting where it will make the biggest difference.
Working with local communities to shade London’s hottest streets
Over the next year and a half, we’ll be running community workshops in some of the London neighbourhoods which are most at risk from future heat waves. Each workshop, including a walk/wheel around the local neighbourhood, will capture residents’ views on heat risk, the walkability and accessibility of their areas, and urban greening. Participants will be paid for their time. During the workshops, residents will explore the potential for future proofing their streets against heat waves, including scope for parking removal and kerbside tree planting. We’ll then share outputs from the workshops with the local councils and work with them to plant trees in suitable locations.
Our summers will be getting hotter, so we need to find ways to keep our streets cooler. This is one of the best ways to do it - so let’s get started!
This work is funded by the City Bridge Foundation. For more information contact carolyn@wearepossible.org
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