SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL DISTRICT TRANSFORMATION
Creating A Landscape for
Health, Healing and Recovery
The Southwestern Medical District in Dallas—anchored by three hospitals—delivers renowned health care in partnership with innovative, world-class research and education. The medical district supports a broad and diverse community, encompassing patients, healthcare professionals, students, residents, business owners, and visitors.
The Southwestern Medical District and the Texas Trees Foundation believe that Dallas deserves a medical district where its health and healing expand beyond the walls of its remarkable healthcare facilities. Through a collaborative, multi-disciplinary partnership model with the Southwestern Medical District, three anchor-hospital partners and local government entities, the SWMD Urban Streetscape and Park Transformation Project will transform a 2-mile segment along the Harry Hines Corridor, spanning from Treadway Street to Lucas Drive, into a greener, safer, and multi-modal thoroughfare. It will also construct an 8-acre Green Park at the intersection of Harry Hines Boulevard and Inwood Road.
The new vision for the Southwestern Medical District—with people and nature at the center—is setting an example for the nation and the standard for what medical districts should be: holistic, green campuses that unite communities, promote health, healing, and safety, and act as intersections of health and nature.
We are breathing new life inside the Southwestern Medical District by transforming the outdoor environment.
MORE THAN A STREETSCAPE: AN OPPORTUNITY
EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT
A space where all people can express their needs, goals, and desires.
EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH
marries the disciplines of design and science to create a space that maximizes environmental and health benefits.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
that mitigates the urban heat island effect, raise air quality, and reduce carbon footprint and stormwater runoff.
ONE HEALTH APPROACH
to designing a public space that heals, restores, and relaxes, provides opportunities for physical movement, and is an iconic, people-friendly place that meaningfully integrates nature
Redesigning the Southwestern Medical District for Human and Environmental Health
The District spans 1,000 acres and is home to three of the state’s most renowned healthcare institutions— Parkland Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Children’s Health. More than 41,000 work here and 3.4 million patients are served in its clinics and emergency rooms each year. Step outside of these remarkable institutions and into the streetscape and a less vibrant and healthy story emerges…
The Texas Trees Foundation’s inaugural work in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District in 2015 revealed that tree canopy covers just 7 percent of this area, well below the 40 percent that arborists recommend to reduce ambient heat. In 2017, Texas Trees Foundation found the Medical District lies within one of Dallas’ largest urban heat islands. These conditions mean that the sun’s rays hit the cement and soak in, causing heat to radiate outward over time. With little tree canopy, the urban heat island index can be 15+ degrees hotter than the reported temperature.
The Texas Trees Foundation is dedicated to elevating the District’s mission of health and healing for its millions of annual users. Driven by an evidence-based design approach to nature-based solutions, it will transform a 2-mile segment along the Harry Hines Corridor, spanning from Treadway Street to Lucas Drive, into a greener, safer, and multi-modal thoroughfare. It will also construct a 8-acre Green Park at the intersection of Harry Hines and Inwood Road.
The new vision of how we can transform our streetscapes within our cities from car-centric to people-centric is changing business as usual. That’s exactly what we are doing in the Southwestern Medical District. We are setting an example for the nation by leading that change at home.
Donate
Please consider donating to support a reimagined Southwestern Medical District. Your contributions will go toward funding a more holistic green campus along the Harry Hines Corridor.
News
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Resources
Take a 360° Virtual Platform Tour of our work in the District and browse our many reports and studies about urban heat and forestry in North Texas.