Greensboro’s Tree Canopy Assessment & Planting Hub

| Kevin McMaster

SymGEO is proud to announce the launch of the City of Greensboro’s Tree Canopy Assessment and Priority Planting Program hub site!

This platform is the result of a collaborative effort between Planning Communities (project lead), SymGEO, Breece Robertson Consulting, and the Office of Sustainability and Resilience for the City of Greensboro, NC. The hub is designed to guide strategic tree planting and stewardship efforts, while also supporting community engagement, education, and policy and program recommendations to grow and protect Greensboro’s tree canopy.

Built on Esri’s ArcGIS Hub technology, the site leverages ArcGIS StoryMaps, Dashboards, and Survey123 to create an interactive experience for residents and tree-planting partners, making it easier than ever to explore Greensboro’s urban forest and get involved.

The hub features quick facts and figures about the tree canopy and its benefits, along with other reports and future plans for the City’s urban forest.

SymGEO led Greensboro’s tree canopy assessment by combining advanced spatial data processing, statistical analysis, and environmental benefit modeling. Using Deep Learning in ArcGIS Pro, high-resolution imagery was classified into distinct land cover types and paired with National Land Cover Data to build a detailed picture of the city’s landscape. Insights from 5,000+ sampled trees were expanded citywide using Forest Inventory Analysis methods, providing a statistically reliable estimate of tree canopy conditions across Greensboro. These results were then processed through i-Tree Eco tools to calculate the environmental benefits that trees provide—such as cleaner air, stormwater management, energy savings, and improved quality of life. This assessment equips city leaders and residents with valuable information to guide urban forestry decisions, prioritize tree planting, and maximize the community benefits of Greensboro’s urban canopy.

The Deep Learning classification method was repeated using historic imagery and then compared to current results to show areas of canopy loss, gains, and future planting opportunities (potential planting areas).

Canopy statistics were summarized in a dashboard featuring both canopy changes and environmental benefits.

The results of the canopy assessment were combined with a detailed vulnerability assessment performed by Planning Communities and summarized in an interactive dashboard that shows where planted trees would provide the greatest benefit.

The hub site also features a resource section that facilitates the exploration of best practices regarding planting, maintaining, and planning for future trees.

A survey to capture new trees planted by residents was built using Survey123 and encourages 2-way stakeholder engagement.

“The hub is an amazing visualization of multiple data points and information uniting on one platform – solidifying a need for continuous growth in Greensboro, one tree at a time!”

– Shree Dorestant, Office of Sustainability and Resilience, City of Greensboro NC

“Creating a place for the citizens to interact with their data in a useful way was a high priority for this project. Every Hub element and dashboard was designed to get the residents to understand how the canopy impacts their house, their neighborhood, and the city as a whole.”

– John Hendricks, Office of Sustainability and Resilience, City of Greensboro NC

Talk to our industry experts if your agency or organization is interested in conducting a canopy assessment or leveraging the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Online and analytical technology – SymGEO is here to help!

School Recycling: Urban Wood Reuse

| Kevin McMaster

Teaching kids the importance of nature, recycling, history, and culture is a lofty goal. Perhaps it’s a lesson that could be taught from the comfort of a bench constructed from recycled urban wood sourced from a local DC neighborhood rich in cultural history? This is now possible thanks to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Urban Forestry Division (UFD)’s new initiative called “Urban Wood Reuse: for Schools“. This partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) will provide DC Public Schools and public charter schools with wood products to improve school grounds at no cost.

SymGEO was excited to help the Urban Forestry Division (UFD) develop this initiative by using Esri’s ArcGIS Hub technology to establish two-way communication between the UFD and DC schools interested in “sitting on a piece of DC History”. The site shares knowledge and products from the UFD while gathering the school’s product ideas and requirements.

The site discusses the benefits of wood reuse, where the wood comes from, and the variety of products available including benches, stumps, or woodchips. It also provides a link to an order form as a convenient and easy way to request wood products.

The order form itself is powered by Esri’s Survey 123 for ArcGIS technology and is designed with step-logic where pertinent questions appear based on previous answers.

One of the exciting new aspects of an initiative is the ability for an audience member to sign into a community account and “follow” the initiative. This will grant them access to broadcasts about new events, updates, new product launches, and other useful information. Now, being able to show which schools are as excited as we are about this new initiative has never been easier!

Talk to our digital platform experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri ArcGIS Hub Initiatives – SymGEO is here to help!

DDOT Urban Forestry Division Hub

| Kevin McMaster

SymGEO is pleased to announce the launch of the DDOT Urban Forestry Division Hub! This new digital platform is designed to engage and interact with the DC community and provide information about the many services and resources offered by the Urban Forestry Division (UFD) of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). This digital platform was built using Esri’s ArcGIS Hub technology, in coordination with OCTO and Open Data DC.

With a long history of caring for the extensive forest canopy in DC, the Urban Forestry Division has meticulously assembled data sets and applications to help in their forest management mission and to communicate with a variety of audiences. With the introduction of Esri’s ArcGIS Hub technology, there is finally a digital platform perfectly designed to tie all the pieces together into a cohesive story. SymGEO was honored to be approached by the Urban Forestry group to help them design, configure, and deploy this comprehensive digital solution.

“SymGEO is a remarkably flexible and responsive company. They listen carefully to requirements and deftly blend customer vision with technological capabilities.”

– DDOT Associate Director / State Forester, Urban Forestry Division

The urban forest story begins with a look to the past and introduces the audience to the long history and important role of trees in DC.

The story then turns to the impressive variety of trees available for public enjoyment and leverages several applications and digital stories that the urban forestry group has already developed.

The flagship data set of the Urban Forest group is the Public Tree Map which elegantly displays a tremendous amount of current information about the urban tree canopy. Links are provided to both the map and the underlying data for the community to use and explore.

Work orders, permits, inspections, plantings, removals… there’s a lot going on in Urban Forestry! Fortunately, many data sets and reporting mechanisms have been developed to keep track of it all. These have now been shared with the public under one digital roof for a better understanding of agency scope and status.

Of course, what fun are statistics if they can’t be updated on the fly as new information is entered into databases behind the scenes?

Finally, links to tools and resources are provided for partners and stakeholders to begin making their own applications and discoveries with DC government data.

Talk to our industry experts if your agency or organization is interested in leveraging the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Hub – SymGEO is here to help!