Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
Suburban sprawl could destroy up to 34 million acres of forests, says new study
Scientists at the US Forest Service and partners at universities, non-profits and other agencies predict that urban and developed land areas in the US will increase 41 percent by 2060. Forested areas will be most impacted by this expansion, with losses ranging from 16 to 34 million acres in the lower 48 states.
Is a tree worth more to us dead or alive? A study conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, India, concluded that a 50-year-old tree is worth about $900 if cut for its timber. But if left standing, it provides ecological services worth $40,000.
Mapping Urban Agriculture from the Sky
Our best estimates of the scale of urban agriculture typically come from self-reported lists and non-profit groups trying to keep tabs on shared community gardens. These lists are, like the gardens themselves, informal. John Taylor, a doctoral candidate in crop sciences at the University of Illinois, used Google Earth images to reveal the true extent of urban agriculture.
AAP: All Work and No Play Bad for Kids
Recess during school offers children cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits they don’t get through academics alone, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wrote in a policy statement. The policy statement emphasized that recess is “a necessary break in the day” and that it “should be considered a child’s personal time, and it should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons.”
4 Examples of Powerful Placemaking
A little-known but very interesting government agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, is quietly leveraging small amounts of financial assistance to make a big difference in helping communities across the country become stronger and more alive. The agency believes “creative placemaking” can strengthen “community identity and a sense of place, and help revitalize local economies.”
