Planting urban trees to improve quality of life? The life satisfaction impacts of urban afforestation

Abstract

As cities around the world undertake large-scale urban afforestation projects, knowledge gaps continue to exist regarding their impacts on quality of life. Using individual-level life satisfaction (LS) data from the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System over 2005–2010, this paper investigates the subjective well-being impacts of the MillionTreesNYC afforestation program in New York City. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find that LS is higher by 0.018 points on a 4-point scale during the first 3-years of the program. Consistent with a causal story, impacts are growing in magnitude as more trees are planted and I show no impacts during the months when deciduous trees have no foliage. Between 2007 and 2010, MillionTreesNYC generated an externality equivalent to a $505 (6.5%) increase in average per capita monthly household income. Several robustness checks and falsification tests are performed. This work has important implications for global urban afforestation policy.