The urban heat commons: vegetation cooling services in Metropolitan Phoenix

Resource System
Watershed and associated topography
Resource Units
Vegetation, including trees and grasses

The case of urban vegetation cooling service at Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, USA is an addition to the original Common-Pool Resource (CPR) database. This case was created in 2013 by Yujia Zhang at Arizona State University. Metropolitan Phoenix is one of the fastest growing regions in the southwest U.S. In contrast to its rapid urban expansion, this area possesses inadequate natural resources and faces unique challenges of sustainable development. The commons dilemma in this case is to balance the tradeoffs between heat mitigation and water consumption by optimal design and efficient irrigation of urban green space.