WILLIAM DOOLAN

BSc (Hons) Landscape Architecture

Breathability

​Improving Air Quality in an Urban Environment

The design proposal aims to regenerate Slough High Street and surrounding areas with innovative urban design interventions and nature-based solutions. Proposals include: a redesigned plaza, an urban forest, street improvements and a new market/performance space.

Urban forests serve as a major blue–green infrastructure in urban ecosystems, and they are broadly viewed as being enormously effective in mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect caused by extensive urbanization and high temperatures associated with climate crisis. A scientific understanding of the cooling effects of urban forests can assist landscape architecture and decision makers in mitigating the UHI effect and improving urban sustainability.