The tree canopy as an unofficial measure of wealth
Launch library · evergreen read
Fly over the city and a clear pattern emerges, wealthier suburbs generally carrying a noticeably denser tree canopy than those with more modest housing, a visible gap that traces back to decades of differing investment in street planting and private gardens. Satellite imagery used in planning studies makes the contrast even starker, visible clearly from a scale no pedestrian could ever perceive directly.
This disparity has become a genuine point of local discussion, councils in less leafy suburbs pushing planting programs specifically aimed at closing the gap, aware that shade and greenery affect everything from temperature to simple everyday liveability. Community groups in less leafy suburbs sometimes organise their own grassroots planting days, unwilling to wait entirely on council programs.
Locals walking between neighbouring suburbs sometimes notice the shift directly, a street growing visibly cooler and greener within just a few blocks, a quiet but tangible marker of how unevenly the canopy has been allowed to grow. Even a modest increase in canopy can noticeably change how a street feels to walk down on a hot afternoon.