Infill Development and the Environment: Infill's impact on urban heat and vegetation

The following thesis studies the impact of infill developments on urban vegetation and land surface temperature in Chicago and Seattle from 2000-2024. Vegetation and temperature impact our daily lives from general aesthetics to quality of life and the comfort of our environments. Surface temperature and vegetation were selected for a focused look at development and each standalone site. Sites were selected if they met the necessary criteria: developed after 2000, completed before 2020, within two miles of a body of water, and significantly changed from pre- to post-development. These criteria allowed the data to fully identify vegetation and surface temperature changes within the study’s timeline. Vegetation density through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and surface temperature were studied through satellite imagery and ArcGIS analysis. The thesis followed a case-study approach, exploring 14 sites throughout the cities of Chicago and Seattle. The study revealed an inverse relationship between vegetation and urban heat in half of the studied sites, showing a decrease in vegetation and, therefore, an increase in surface temperature. Predevelopment and changing weather conditions caused the rest of the sites to experience a decrease in vegetation and temperature (Chicago sites) or an increase in vegetation and temperature (Seattle sites). Overall, cities interested in growth and mitigating urban heat should investigate infill developments and vegetation as a potential mechanism.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Bohannon, Carrie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Schlossberg, Marc

• planning
• infill development
• urban heat
• vegetation
• environment

Statement dc:rights

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/32466

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F32466