Environment + Sustainability
Where nature is woven into the city.
Urban forestry, parks planning, climate action, and environmental equity analysis — integrated with core planning practice so sustainability outcomes get built into the decisions that shape land use, not added on afterward.
When people and trees thrive together, cities are healthier, happier, and more resilient.
Environmental and climate outcomes are land use outcomes. Tree canopy is shaped by zoning and development patterns; climate resilience by where housing goes and how infrastructure is sited; access to parks and nature by how land is planned and who takes part. We integrate urban forestry, climate analysis, and environmental equity into the core land use work — so nature isn’t a separate department, but part of what gets built, where it goes, and who it serves. What gets built where determines what gets preserved.
Urban Forestry + Tree Codes
Urban forest management plans, tree canopy assessments, and tree code updates — integrating canopy equity, climate resilience, and development standards into a cohesive regulatory and management framework.
Parks + Natural Resources
Parks and open space master plans, natural resource inventories, and green infrastructure planning that weave nature into the land use decisions shaping how cities grow — maintaining access, ecological function, and equity as development pressure increases.
Climate Action
Community-wide greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans grounded in land use analysis — connecting emissions to the development patterns that produce them and the policy levers that can change them.
Environmental Equity Analysis
Equity-integrated environmental analysis that maps the distributional consequences of environmental conditions and planning decisions on the communities least able to absorb climate harm.
Expert spotlight
Sachi Arakawa, Partner, Environment + Sustainability
Sachi is an environmental planner and Partner with over a decade of experience in urban forestry, sustainability, and climate resilience. She led the Portland Urban Forest Plan — the city’s guiding document for tree management, canopy targets, and policy, adopted by City Council in 2025 — and facilitation and program development for the Portland Clean Energy Fund’s Equitable Tree Canopy Workgroup, advancing urban-forestry investment in Portland’s most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods.
Sachi Arakawa, Partner
Featured Projects
