Examining the socio-economic determinants of urban forests structure in a desert city using multi-scale geographically weighted regression

Keywords: Urban forest, socio-economic, multi-scale geographically weighted regression, inequity
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 2

Abstract

As a dynamic ecosystem in urban areas, urban forests provide critical benefits to people and the urban environment. The spatial distribution of urban forests within a city is largely influenced by socio-economic factors. Previous studies are limited to focusing on utilizing the urban tree canopy alone as the urban forest indicator. This study examines one additional attribute, stem density, and evaluates the relative importance of socio-economic indicators in determining the urban forest structure in Phoenix, Arizona. The goal of this paper is to illustrate how variations in urban forest structure and its socio-economic determinants correlates at varying spatial scales. Coupling remote sensing and advanced spatial statistical modeling, this study aims to: (1) explore the urban forest and socio-economic patterns in Phoenix; (2) identify the socio-economic determinants of the urban forest structure in Phoenix; (3) examine the variations of the relationships between urban forests’ characteristics and its socio-economic drivers at varying spatial scales.