The City of Chicago has less public park space per capita than any of 23 representative major cities across the United States (chart ).  To make matters worse, recent studies have shown that tree canopy coverage in Chicago’s disadvantaged communities has been decreasing rapidly over the last 10 years (further reading is linked below).  The impacts of this devastating loss are most pronounced on the South and West Sides, paralleling and exacerbating longstanding disparities between Chicago’s privileged and less fortunate areas.

Negative impacts stemming from limited access to parks and nature are well documented.  These include greater risk for respiratory conditions such as asthma, reduced physical fitness, and degradation of mental health.  Reduction of mature trees and parks also is well known to hurt property values, bringing a direct economic disadvantage to areas that already suffer from stigmatization and disinvestment.

The neighborhoods with the lowest canopy are on the south and west sides, some with less than 10 percent coverage, while neighborhoods with the highest canopy tend to be to the north of the city, with Forest Glen - 46% tree canopy - at the top of the list.

-- ABC Channel 7 News  

• The Tree Equity Score Project's map of Chicago's South and West Sides  documents disparity in the urban tree canopy by city districts.
• In the Great Lakes Echo, Brianna M. Lane reports on efforts to achieve greater parity through reforestation of formerly redlined Great Lakes cities  .
• Chicago is identified in The Guardian as a top contender among cities that would "benefit the most" from combatting racial tree disparity  .

• ABC Channel 7's coverage of Chicago's "Dwindling Tree Canopy" concludes that minority communities are often impacted the greatest. It also contains interactive graphics  comparing Chicago to the surrounding counties.
• While metropolitan Chicago gained trees between 2010 and 2020, the 2020 Chicago Region Tree Census concluded that "the canopy cover of the city of Chicago decreased from 19% to 16%" coverage   in the same period of time. (The full study is also available here  .)

• The Chicago Region Trees Iniative features a series of maps depicting the pressing need for trees in the City of Chicago , and illustrating their many benefits.