Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Urban Parks, USA

TPL developers designed ParkServe, an Esri-powered GIS tool and comprehensive database of local parks in nearly 14,000 US cities, towns, and communities. City leaders and park advocates can access TPL’s extensive database of local parks to guide improvement efforts and quantify and measure park inventory quality. ParkServe data underpins TPL’s engagement with cities. A few years after recovering from Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans became one of the first TPL Climate Smart Cities partnerships. Causing more than 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage, Katrina was a harbinger of the disruptive weather events that would increase with climate change. As the city prioritized improving climate resilience, TPL facilitated the creation of “green schoolyards,” replacing concrete surfaces prone to flooding with gardens of native plants that absorb rainfall and runoff. Several other interventions, including wetlands restoration and stormwater catchment basins, also addressed flood concerns while increasing open space access for neighborhoods that did not previously have it.