Even repainting roofs from black to white can make a major difference for minimal cost.
Planting trees is great in many ways (quality of life and air quality in addition to heat mitigation) but is pricier. It can also take several years to "bear fruit" (even for non fruit-bearing trees ;-) because generally you plant saplings, which can take decades to grow to a size where they provide significant shade. NYC hust completed an initiative to plant a million new trees, and it's barely made a dent in the amount of treeless sidewalks, let alone unshaded space in the city.
It would have been nice if the article had made more concrete recommendations, tho, I agree.
Planting trees is great in many ways (quality of life and air quality in addition to heat mitigation) but is pricier. It can also take several years to "bear fruit" (even for non fruit-bearing trees ;-) because generally you plant saplings, which can take decades to grow to a size where they provide significant shade. NYC hust completed an initiative to plant a million new trees, and it's barely made a dent in the amount of treeless sidewalks, let alone unshaded space in the city.
It would have been nice if the article had made more concrete recommendations, tho, I agree.