UBC Graduate Research

Digitizing Campus Tree and Shrub Social Value Maps Lightfoot, Marley; Lin, Tori (Yachen)

Abstract

In partnership with UBC Campus + Community Planning, the main purpose of this project is to continue to update UBC Vancouver Campus’ tree inventory. In addition to assessing biophysical tree data, spatial data of social values linked to green spaces was collected by students in Phase 1A. The long-term objective is to prepare the data across the whole campus. This project serves as a pedagogical pilot step. Once this data is collected through all of UBC, planners can better understand how people are valuing spaces and what features are more (or less) valued than others. Phase 1A has been completed, and the current priority is assessing what the data formatting steps are to achieve a fully integrated and holistic perspective of UBC’s green spaces. The process of this project consisted of gathering the data that was collected by students in 2019 and 2020, and digitizing it. The results of this mapping showed which areas rated highest across the board, and which areas are the most under-valued on campus. The highest rated areas were the Buchanan complex, the Koerner Library, and the Faculty of Forestry area. The lowest valued areas were the areas around the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, and around the Sauder School of Business. Once all the data was processed, we created a protocol to be applied to the following phases of the project to help facilitate data integration. This includes spreadsheets with instructions that students will use to fill out data. In addition, we provided recommendations to address the three major limitations: data inconsistency, missing data, and subjectivity. The next phase of this project continues in the next academic year, using the protocol and recommendations listed in this report. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International