Green Infrastructure for Urban Heat Island Mitigation

“Going Green for a Cool, Healthy Jackson” – Farish Street Commons

$1.5 million in funding for this project provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service,

$500,000 in funding provide by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Developing the Farish Street Green Commons is important in supporting the revitalization of Farish Street by addressing the immediate problem of intense heat and conditions contributing to the urban heat island effect in that area. Farish Street is still a place where people gather for events like Juneteenth, Farish Farish Fashion Forward, First Fridays and most recently, a tour stop during Economic Development Week.

Farish Street “Green Commons” is designed to be a natural cooling system of trees, native plants and grasses. All of our planning efforts, heat studies, surveys and community engagements are providing the foundation for a green infrastructure that benefits health, well-being and economic development.

In the Winter of 2025, 2°C Mississippi will begin developing the sites based on the design co-developed with community members over the past 18 months. Below are the descriptions of surveys and data collection efforts that will provide an understanding of the effectiveness of the “cooling system” over the next 4 years.

Our Partners

We work closely with the community and our partners:

- - Jackson Community Design Center (MSU School of Architecture)
  - Communities of Shalom (community organizing and support)
  - Capa Strategies (offers climate research and industry-leading practices for managing the emerging risks of climate change)
  - Jackson Redevelopment Authority (the landowner)

PHASE 1: THE INITIAL DESIGN

In 2020, 2˚C Mississippi in partnership with the City of Jackson secured funding through NOAA’s Climate Program Office and the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS)Technical assistance from CAPA Strategies for a community science urban heat island (UHI) mapping campaign was the first step of the plan for implementing a green infrastructure solution for Jackson.

In August 2020, 2˚C Mississippi’s volunteers along with students from Jackson State University’s School of Public Health, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Medicine and dozens of citizen scientists from Jackson worked together to collect data on heat distribution in the city. The campaign produced data that provided the evidence needed to focus efforts on mitigation strategies for Farish Street.

PHASE 2: COMMUNITY CO-DESIGN

Over the next 18 months, we held multiple meetings and workshops with community members, business owners, JCDC and JRA. We explored many plans and options around what the Farish Street green insfrastucture would be, what it would look like, how it would be used and maintained.

PHASE 3: HEAT PERCEPTION SURVEY

During this summer of 2024, 2C Mississippi staff and volunteers from Farish Street Community of Shalom conducted the first heat perception survey during the Farish Street Juneteenth celebration. A second survey was collected during the Farish Fashion Forward Event.

Participants were given a 10-question survey to complete on their phones, an iPad or paper survey. Gift cards were issued to survey respondents. The survey, developed by CAPA Strategies, captured the feelings and perceptions of respondents around heat, trees and outdoor events.

PHASE 4: HEAT MEASUREMENTS

The urban heat island study involves measuring heat, wind flow and humidity on 3 sites of the Farish Street designated for the Green Commons development. It is a 5-year study conducted in cooperation with CAPA Strategies and a partner organization, Farish Street Community of Shalom. As a grant subrecipient, Shalom’s volunteers took the first measurements this summer and will be measuring the heat, wind and humidity conditions for the next several years.

FARISH COMMONS

Before