Street Trees and Housing Markets: An Open-Data Analysis of NYC’s Urban Greening

Street tree planting delivers well-documented environmental and public health benefits, but it also interacts with housing markets in complex ways. This virtual session uses open data to explore how urban greening strategies may shape housing prices and rents in New York City.

Drawing on NYC Open Data and other publicly available housing, demographic, and environmental datasets, the presentation will walk through the data sources, modeling approach, and key findings of this analysis. The session also features a live demonstration of a web-based interactive simulation tool that allows participants to explore different tree-planting scenarios and their potential market impacts, supporting more informed, transparent, and equitable decision-making around urban greening investments. This session is designed for planners, policymakers, researchers, advocates, and community members. No technical background is required.

The project is led by Dr. Hanxue Wei, Industry Assistant Professor at NYU’s Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP). Archy Guo, Graduate Research Assistant at CUSP, is leading the presentation and conducting the core analytical work. The project team also includes Dr. Max Vilgalys, Climate Policy Analyst at NYC Office of Management and Budget, and Dr. Alex Azan, Assistant Professor at NYU Langone Health.