Guiding intelligent tree planting strategies across Philadelphia and farther reaches

In the heart of Philadelphia, a graduate student at the Weitzman School of Design is working on a project that could significantly improve the city's urban landscape. Frank Chen, a Master of City Planning and Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA) candidate, is on a mission to make cities safer and healthier, particularly in response to rising heatwaves and migration to urban areas.

Chen's fascination with cities, maps, and urban spaces began during his youth, influenced by his architect parents based in Hangzhou, China. He was introduced to landmark structures, museums, libraries, and urban spaces, which sparked a lifelong passion.

Chen's street tree mapping project involves a delicate balance between tree shade and tree location, all with pedestrian well-being in mind. One of his projects involves developing a visual model that strategically maps the best places to plant street trees in Philadelphia for optimal shade and pedestrian benefit.

The goal of this project is to help address the pressing challenge of heatwaves, an emerging problem in cities worldwide. Chen's long-term goal is to see his research used by the city government or companies to benefit Philadelphia residents.

Chen's work is mentored by Weitzman faculty members Xiaojiang Li and Eric Delmelle. Li, who trained Chen to code for the visual mapping component of the street tree project using GPU computation methods, provided substantive reference points for the project. Delmelle, who had previously taught Chen in a MUSA course, offered guidance from a spatial optimization perspective.

Much of Chen's published research in the fields of urban sustainability studies and geospatial data science has been inspired by the pivotal impact of Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng on the fields of architecture, city planning, and urban design. Chen plans to pursue a Ph.D. focused on the intersection of geography and urban planning, inspired by these Penn alums.

During the data collection process for the street tree project, Chen considered real-world constraints like distance to buildings, avoiding street poles, and street intersections to ensure practical results. Chen is excited about projects that have real-world implications and have the potential to help people.

Chen graduated from Tianjin University with an engineering degree focused on urban and rural planning. He is motivated to apply the spatial optimization tools and models developed for the street tree project, combined with other geospatial data analytics methods, to generate new solutions for urban challenges.

Chen's ultimate goal is to improve cities for societal benefit. His street tree mapping project is just one step in this journey, but it's a significant one. By optimising the planting of tree rows for shade and pedestrian comfort, Chen hopes to contribute to a greener, cooler, and more livable Philadelphia.

Guiding intelligent tree planting strategies across Philadelphia and farther reaches