Developing Green Infrastructure in New York CIty

Developing parkland Infrastructure in immature York CItyChapter 1 virgin York urban center, U.S.A. new-made York city backgroundCity of new-fashioned York is the virtually heavily populated city in the United States and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. From the geographical point of view, it is located in a coastal area at the mouth of Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. The citys territory has been extensively altered by human intervention, doweryicularly with considerable land reclamation. At the present succession the city total area is 1214km2, 790km2 out of it being land and is increasing with every year. New York Citys land use is characterized as a highly developed urban core on Manhattan Island and a sprawling dense suburban area. The come building raising in the city is approximately 142m.The citys climate is vastly impact by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean having 2.5C as average temperature in winter and 24.9C as average tem perature in summer. Hurri bay windowes and tropical storms are rare in New York, however they are not uncommon and always concur the potential to strike the area.Urban heat island in New York CityIn the city of New York, urban heat island is a very well-known incident and it causes a atomic reactor of problems in various parts of the city, especially in the areas with high buildings. In the bear two decades there swallow been countless researches and analysis made by different scientists and city presidential term regarding atypical increased heat in some urban districts. In the last years, abnormal city climate became a bigger concern in addition for general public and the number of local communities involving in various heat temperance syllabuss is increasing.One of the most problematic zones regarding urban heat island is Manhattan. This district has the formulate of a high urban canyon with buildings height ranging from around 70m up to 541m but the average height is of approximately 130m. The traffic in this area is overwhelming and combined with the large amount of materials that can prosecute heat during the day, Manhattan is considered the hotspot of high temperatures in New York City. stock-still, during the day there are multiple regions with higher(prenominal) temperatures than in Manhattan. But then again during the night, the temperature remains elevated in this specific region fleck in the other areas, the changeing process happens much faster and considerably easier.Figure 5a Manhattan mapDuring summer temperatures are elevated and in this period urban heat island is more accentuated. summer judgment of conviction temperatures in the city are in average 4C warmer than surrounding suburban and rural areas. During winter city temperatures are in average 3C warmer than surroundings.1 accord to this research Variations in New York citys urban heat island strength over time and space2 in New York City, on a typical summer day with 30 C tune temperature, roofs and upper parts of buildings facades can reach more than 80C, while the pavements and streets on the floor of the urban canyon do a temperature varying from 65 to 80C.Mitigation strategiesUrban heat island mitigation programsAbsence of parks, gardens and street trees is a well-known problem in New York City districts and in 1996 the startle program with the intention of greensing the city has begun. It is called the Greenstreets and the purpose is to change unused road areas into green spaces that garnish neighborhoods, improve childs play quality, reduce air temperatures (). Since its beginning, over 2500 Greenstreets have been built citywide3 and the below gameboard shows the current status.Figure 5b This table shows the percentages of vegetation and impervious surfaces in some of the New York City neighborhoods. The percentages are comparative to the specific zone.Landscape architects work together with the city government and local community grou ps to determine how best to increase the green infrastructure in the city. In Manhattan, more than half(prenominal) of the buildings roofs and terraces are no longer impervious because of the multitude of programs carry throughed by the government to fight the heat.The most important plan is called PlaNYC 20304 and it was implemented in 2007. Since then 903000 trees have been planted and in 2014 New York City had the cleanest air in the last 50 years. Moreover, since September 2013, an additional 185000m2 of black pave felt roofs have been upgraded to green roofs. Currently plainly 14% of the city area is covered by parks and gardens and they aid reduce the heat, but the program is continuing. accord to NASA about 14 percent of the New York Citys impervious surface area consists of rooftops, most of them dark, heat-generating surfaces, typically tar5. If this all this area is to be alter into green roofs, then the percentage of gardens could evoke up to 28%.In January 2010, one major envision called Green light for Midtown6 has been implemented in the midtown area, Manhattan. The idea was developed as a little part of the PlaNYC 2030. This working class was a major initiative in the Citys efforts to improve mobility and safety7. However it also had a smaller and not that important objective to increase the green areas in midtown and have lighter colored streets and pathways. Some trees have been planted but more have been placed in large pots to ensure flexibility. Most of the streets have been temporarily multi-colour in green and blue colors. The project was a success at that time as the lighter surface colors ensured a put down temperature for pedestrians.Another program called NYC serene Roofs8 (White roof project) 9, has as purpose turning most of black asphalt felt roofs in New York City into white roofs. The procedure is by painting the roof covert with a highly reflective paint, of minimum 0.75 albedo as stated in the project law10. Accor ding to the White Roof stick out research on a summer day with 32C a white roof surface temperature is with 6C warmer than the air temperature and with 44C cooler than a black asphalt felt roof11. Since the project started in 2010, more than 535000m2 of roofs have been painted white in New York City metropolitan area12.Figure 5c Map of New York City with white roofs at the end of 2012Figure 5d White Roof Project researchEven though white roofs are more used than green roofs, the latter have greater heat mitigation potential. In Manhattan, while a white roof has the forefinger to cool the air temperature with 0.7C on a summer day, the same area of green roof can cool the air around with approximately 3C and the effect is extended on a larger area.13Indoor temperatureNew York City has to struggle every summer with air conditioning and automatonlike ventilation of every building. Because of the intense heat and the amount of units running in the same time, long power blackouts are v ery common and people had to find solutions to improve the air quality interior. A lot of companies took the decision to install living walls indoors because of design reasons, but in time they realized the dictatorial effects that they have on indoor climate. As a result, this solution became with time popular and more people and companies take the decision to install a living wall inside to help the air conditioning. Indoor temperatures during summer are very close to the outside temperatures and a living wall indoor can reduce the room temperature with as much as 7C.Green structuresFigure 5e The Trump Tower in New York CityGreen facades and living walls are a common choice between New Yorkers but not as common as green roofs. life sentence walls are mostly used inside or on terraces and balconies. Green facades are also an appealing design in New York City and they appear mostly on old buildings. On new buildings, a full or partial green faade is achieved by plants that people grow in their balconies or hanging from the outside window sill.Green roofs are increasing not only because of the multitude of promoting programs and laws but also because people discovered the benefits that these structures have. Most of them are becoming used as fruits and vegetable gardens, especially on the apartment blocks, schools and kindergartens. Moreover a nice flower garden on each apartment terrace increases the property value. thence the real-estate agencies are taking advantage of this feature and implement green roofs and green walls in more and more buildings. As a conclusion, most of the peoples reasons for adding a green roof or living wall anywhere in the city are more oriented to economic benefits or attractive view and practical usage. However the effect on the city climate and indoor temperature is the same.Communities involvementFigure 5f Public tree babys roomThe city government has a very efficient and well-organized informing procedure for local communi ties and the number of volunteers for circumstances cool the city is increasing. Also Central Park in Manhattan area, during summer is considered the heart of cool and civilization and people realized how much power vegetation can have on the city climate. Therefore one of the most important practices that communities are doing is helping the government create spaces or use the live parks for public tree nurseries. When trees reach the necessary size, volunteers help the government plant them on streets or in areas where shade is needed.14 As a result, New York City is becoming a greener city. Moreover, through the program NYC aplomb Roofs and White Roof Project, people volunteer to paint their own roofs white.1 Page1 Slosberg, R. B., Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. D., 2007. New York City Regional soup up Island Initiative Mitigating New York Citys Heat Island with Urban Forestry, Living Roofs, and Light Surfaces2 Gaffin, et al., 2007. Variations in New York citys urban heat isl and strength over time and space3 NYC Parks. Green Infrastructure. online4 Myors Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, 2014. PLANYC Progress report 20145 NASA. The Making (and Breaking) of an Urban Heat Island. online6 New York City Department of Transportation, 2010. Green Light for Midtown Evaluation Report7 New York City Depertment of Transportation. Pedestrians Broadway. online8 NYC Cool Roofs, 2012. NYC Cool Roofs Annual review 2012.9 White roof project is a continuity project of NYC Cool Roofs White Roof Project, 2010. White Roof Project. online10 A Local Law to amend the administrative polity of the city of New York and the New York city building code, in relation to roof coating standards, 347-A (January 1, 2012)11 visualize Figure 5-d12 NYC Cool Roofs, 2014. NYC Cool Roofs. online13 Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W. D., Parshall, L., Lynn, B., Cox, J., Goldberg, R., . . . Watson, M., 2009. MITIGATING NEW YORK CITYS HEAT ISLAND Integrating Stakeholder Perspectives an d Scientific Evaluation.14 American Society of Landscape Architects (Producer), 2012. Urban forests=Cleaner, cooler air