CONTEXT

Photograph by J. Auld

Parkdale is a residential community located in northwest Calgary.  It is bounded on the north by 16 Avenue, on the west by Shaganappi Trail, the south by Parkdale Boulevard and on the east by 29th Street.

For the purposes of this project, the boundary on the east was extended to Crowchild Trail, thus encompassing a part of West Hillhurst.

THE DESIGN PROBLEM

The problem that was identified was that Parkdale's urban forest, in this case, specifically the "street trees", were planted around the same time.  Street trees are those trees that are planted in the space between the city sidewalk or curb and an owner's property line.  The elms that were planted by the City of Calgary in Parkdale's early years created a definite canopy that covered the roads.  This is the form the design solution is intended to support.  The design objective was to come up with a program that would help prevent Parkdale from having to perform mass plantings of street trees when they begin to die off. 

WHAT IS AN URBAN FOREST?

Urban forests are important to us because of the many functions they serve.

• Trees clean our air.  They "breathe" in carbon dioxide.  Then they release oxygen from their system.  This is useful for reducing the CO₂ emissions that are released into our atmosphere everyday through human activities such as driving a car.

• Trees also help to moderate our urban climates.  They provide shade from the hot sun and they reduce the speeds of bitterly cold winds.  Different types of trees can be used in site designs to achieve outdoor spaces that are relatively comfortable all year long.  If placed strategically, trees can lower energy bills for residential homes.

• There are some significant psychological benefits that we can get from trees.  One study that was done by the Human-Environment Research Laboratory indicated that the presence of trees actually helps to reduce the incidence of various abuse-related crimes.

• There are also monetary benefits from having trees.  Property values are higher for well-treed yards or homes near treed areas.

• Trees provide corridors for various species of wildlife, like birds and squirrels.  In some urban parks, trees can provide cover for larger animals such as deer.

PARKDALE'S URBAN FOREST

Parkdale's urban trees are of a similar age:

• the trees will die off at about the same time, leaving a "hole in the canopy"

There are three different typologies of tree plantings:

• trees planted by the City of Calgary
• trees planted by homeowners
• trees planted by developers

The most common tree species include:

• elm

• aspen

• poplar

• weeping birch

• spruce