An overview of urban greening-urban forestry environmental analysis tools in the United States of America

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Though urban green spaces and urban forests provide essential ecological and human health benefits, their distribution may be uneven, often disadvantaging low-middle income (LMI) and racially diverse communities. This review explores the effectiveness of urban greening environmental justice (EJ) analysis tools in relation to urban forestry applications. Specifically, the methodologies, user interfaces, and practical applications of five prominent EJ mapping tools – Tree Equity Score, EJScreen, CalEnviroScreen, ParkScore, and i-Tree – were evaluated. The unique abilities including customisability and capacity, as well as features and limitations of each tool were considered. Potential enhancements like real-time data integration, and community engagement to increase the tools’ utility and impact were discussed, and case studies of real-world application of each of these tools were explored. The powerful abilities of EJ mapping tools in supporting informed policy decisions and promoting environmental justice through equitable urban greening initiatives were outlined. Our conclusions underscore the importance of accessible, user-friendly, and comprehensive EJ tools in advancing environmental equity in the urban forestry sector.