Microproduct Data GuideBeginner

Vancouver Public Trees

Public tree locations, species, dimensions, and planting dates for building urban forestry, biodiversity, and canopy equity maps.

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At a Glance

Difficulty
Beginner — comfortable for a first prototype
Size
Small · 0.02–0.3 GB
Formats
CSV, JSON, GeoJSON
Access
Download and API
API Key
Not Required
Provider
City of Vancouver
Updates
Daily
Last Verified
Sep 3, 2026
Source Type
Government Source
Data Terms
Open Government Licence - Vancouver
  • Python Syntax Checked
  • Runnable Notebook

From Source to Product Signal

Test a Product Idea in Four Steps

Start with one species and a small API page of mapped trees. Private trees are excluded, records without coordinates are absent, and some attributes may be several years out of date.

1

Check the Setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • An internet connection
2

Access the Data

  1. 1.Open the official dataset page and review the inventory and attribute-age notes.
  2. 2.Query a bounded page through the OpenDataSoft API.
  3. 3.Keep asset id, species, dimensions, planting date, and coordinates.
Open Official Source
3

Run the Python Example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas requests

import pandas as pd
import requests

url = "https://opendata.vancouver.ca/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/datasets/public-trees/records"
response = requests.get(url, params={"limit": 100}, timeout=30)
response.raise_for_status()
trees = pd.json_normalize(response.json()["results"])
columns = [
    "asset_id",
    "common_name",
    "genus_name",
    "species_name",
    "height_m",
    "diameter_cm",
    "date_planted",
    "geo_point_2d.lat",
    "geo_point_2d.lon",
]
print(trees[columns].head())
4

Test a Useful Signal

Map Public Tree Diversity

Test whether species counts can support a local urban-forest diversity map.

  1. 01Count sampled trees by genus and species.
  2. 02Compare diameter and height distributions for the most common species.
  3. 03Explain why private-tree exclusion, missing coordinates, and stale attributes limit canopy conclusions.

Related Datasets

Dataset Details

City of Vancouver is a government source. Last verified 2026-09-03. Temporal coverage: Current inventory with planting dates where available.

Provider

City of Vancouver

Data Terms

Open Government Licence - Vancouver

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