The District spans 1,000 acres and is home to three of the state’s most renowned healthcare institutions— Parkland Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Children’s Health. More than 41,000 work here and 3.4 million patients are served in its clinics and emergency rooms each year. Step outside of these remarkable institutions and into the streetscape and a less vibrant and healthy story emerges… 

The Texas Trees Foundation’s inaugural work in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District in 2015 revealed that tree canopy covers just 7 percent of this area, well below the 40 percent that arborists recommend to reduce ambient heat. In 2017, Texas Trees Foundation found the Medical District lies within one of Dallas’ largest urban heat islands. These conditions mean that the sun’s rays hit the cement and soak in, causing heat to radiate outward over time. With little tree canopy, the urban heat island index can be 15+ degrees hotter than the reported temperature.

The Texas Trees Foundation is dedicated to elevating the District’s mission of health and healing for its millions of annual users. Driven by an evidence-based design approach to nature-based solutions, it will transform a 2-mile segment along the Harry Hines Corridor, spanning from Treadway Street to Lucas Drive, into a greener, safer, and multi-modal thoroughfare. It will also construct a 10-acre Green Park at the intersection of Harry Hines and Inwood Road. 

The new vision of how we can transform our streetscapes within our cities from car-centric to people-centric is changing business as usual. That’s exactly what we are doing in the Southwestern Medical District. We are setting an example for the nation by leading that change at home.