A team of researchers from MIT’s Sensable City Lab have created a new project called Treepedia that uses an algorithm and Google Street View to map trees in cities. FastCompany staffer Adele Peters reports on this project which uses Google Street View to measure canopy cover as it gives a more realistic representation of what people actually see.
Higher scores indicate more tree coverage on a particular street or in a particular city. Researchers want this project to help cities see what they can teach one another about urban greenery:
“The goal of this project is to start a conversation so that cities can see how they compare with one another and how they can learn from each other,” the researchers say. In the next phase of the project, the algorithm will be tweaked to begin identifying tree species, and residents on a block will also be able to tag trees—and make requests for the city to plant more.
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