The Florida Center at USF's School of Architecture completed an exciting research project to help the City of Tampa in the management of an important natural resource, the urban forest. Urban forests are vital to city life and provide residents with many benefits such as: reduction in household energy use, air pollution reduction, decreased stormwater runoff, and increased property values. Only recently with advancements in technology, have researchers been able to assign these services a dollar value and understand how a forest is changing over time. The Florida Center used the latest technology to help the local community understand this valuable resource. The Urban Ecological Analysis quantified how Tampa's tree canopy has changed over time, modeled the effects of the forest on the local ecology, and assessed the economic impact of the forest. The project was a partnership with the City of Tampa Parks Department.
