The American Planning Association today named the New York City Urban Forest Plan as the recipient of its 2026 National Planning Award for Resilience & Sustainability. The award honors the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, NYC Parks, and City Parks Foundation for the city’s first comprehensive strategy to protect, care for, and expand its urban forest. WXY architecture + urban design (WXY) led the plan’s planning, research, and design and developed its strategies and overall framework.

The stakes are rising with the temperature. By the 2050s, New York could see an average of 35 days a year above 95°F, up from just four in recent history. To meet that heat, the city is turning to one of its oldest forms of natural infrastructure. U.S. Forest Service scientists estimate that New York’s trees already provide at least $110 million a year in benefits by sequestering carbon, reducing runoff, removing air pollution, and avoiding health costs. Those benefits don’t reach everyone equally. Canopy covers 23.4 percent of the city overall, but only about 19 percent of Environmental Justice Areas, compared with 26 percent elsewhere. The plan puts preservation first and directs new planting to the neighborhoods with the least canopy and the greatest need.

“The jury applauds New York City for its first-ever comprehensive Urban Forest Plan, recognizing trees as essential infrastructure for a resilient and equitable city,” said Samantha Castro, AICP, 2026 APA National Planning Awards jury chair. “Bringing together community input, data and partners across the city, the plan provides a framework for expanding the benefits of trees by prioritizing planting where trees are needed most, not simply where planting is easiest.”  

“Most infrastructure starts depreciating the day it’s built. A tree does the opposite,” said Adam Lubinsky, FAICP, Founding Principal of WXY. “A street tree at 20 years old cools more sidewalk and absorbs more stormwater than one at 5, and it keeps getting better every year it grows. This award recognizes a plan built around that idea, and the return will only grow from here.”

The plan reaches 30 percent canopy by 2040 through three pathways. It preserves existing trees and improves their care, plants more trees on private property and high-impact public sites, and cultivates a network of residents, organizations, and agencies to care for the urban forest over time. Together the pathways hold 12 strategies and 43 actions that will guide the city’s work over the next decade.

That work rests on rigorous data and a coalition of collaborators. Comparing LiDAR scans from 2017 and 2021, the team found a net canopy gain of about 2,300 acres citywide. They also found that one- and two-unit residential properties were the only property type to lose canopy overall. Because much of the remaining opportunity sits on private land, the plan draws on “practical canopy” modeling from The Nature Conservancy to identify where trees can realistically grow. It also identifies room for new planting on New York City Housing Authority campuses, which already hold more than 1,000 acres of canopy.

“No matter where you live, work, or spend time outside, all New Yorkers know the immediate relief that comes from standing under the shade of a tree on a hot day. What may be less obvious is that trees are one of the most affordable and accessible ways to adapt to a changing climate,” said New York City Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung. “Yet for too long, New Yorkers of color in environmental justice communities have been left behind, lacking critical access to trees and all the benefits they provide. Expanding and caring for our urban forest is a matter of equity that will improve the lives of all New Yorkers. We are thankful for the APA’s recognition of this critical work, and we look forward to bringing our first-ever Urban Forest Plan to life.”

New Yorkers shaped the plan directly. More than 8,000 residents took part in workshops, tours, focus groups, and an online questionnaire across all five boroughs, contributing more than 20,000 comments that called for more equitable tree coverage, healthier trees, and better access to nature.

“A tree on your block means shade on the walk to the subway, cleaner air, and a cooler apartment on a July night, and every New Yorker deserves that,” said Claire Weisz, FAIA, Founding Principal of WXY. “WXY helped bring together nearly two dozen city agencies, conservation groups, foresters, funders, and thousands of New Yorkers around that goal. Many of them were caring for these trees long before there was a citywide plan, and this award belongs to all of them.”

“This plan brings together the knowledge of people who care for New York’s trees every day with a shared commitment to expanding their benefits across all five boroughs,” says Dare Brawley, WXY’s project manager. “It has been a privilege to work alongside our City partners and collaborators to translate that knowledge into a plan for long-term care and growth.”

The Urban Forest Plan brought together nearly two dozen New York City agencies with a team of project partners that includes City Parks Foundation and Partnerships for Parks, Natural Areas Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, WXY architecture + urban design, and Urban Canopy Works. The U.S. Forest Service, Forest for All NYC, and Trees New York contributed additional expertise. The City of New York funded the plan in part, along with the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program in partnership with American Forests, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the Anahata Foundation.

Read the full plan ↗.

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About WXY Architecture + Urban Design

WXY is an interdisciplinary practice based in New York City and Toronto. The firm works across planning, architecture, and urban design to shape the public realm through site-specific, context-driven solutions that connect policy, infrastructure, and community engagement.

About the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice

The Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) works to protect New Yorkers from the threats of climate change and extreme weather by creating and advancing policies, programs, and projects that secure the city, while making our critical infrastructure cleaner and more reliable. We strengthen our defenses, tackle the sources of pollution, and provide resources to all New Yorkers so that our businesses, families, and communities can thrive in healthy and safe neighborhoods.