The environmental benefits of various urban design scenarios differentiated by their land-cover

The goal of this study was to explore how changes in urban vegetation and impervious surfaces could positively affect environmental conditions. Various urban design scenarios, differentiated by their vegetated and impervious surface land-cover, were created for a 16.63-hectare residential site in Guelph, Ontario. Environmental analyses were carried out on existing site conditions and alternative scenarios. Estimates of carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal, stormwater runoff reduction, energy conservation and avoided carbon emissions were measured. These figures were analyzed to determine if there was a positive relationship between increased tree canopy cover and all environmental benefits considered, and whether there was a positive relationship between decreases in impervious surfaces and increased stormwater benefits. Computer simulation and analysis were carried out using the GIS software CITYgreen 4.0. The results demonstrate that, in the study area, environmental benefits were positively correlated with increased tree cover and decreased impervious surface area.