“You can’t benefit from shade 10 kilometres away,” Ms Sweeney said.

The City of Sydney’s plan dovetails with the state government’s $10 million effort to plant 1 million trees across the city by 2022. The halfway mark in that program for Greater Sydney was reached last week with the 500,000th tree planted by Planning Minister Rob Stokes in Bungarribee Park in western Sydney.

The City of Sydney’s population increased by about a quarter, or 67,000 people, over the past decade, and is projected to swell by another 115,000 by 2036. The rising number of residents will add pressure to existing green spaces. Westconnex and other large projects are also cutting into greenery.

The target will be met in part by planting trees in areas that have not seen them for many years, while “green roofs provide another option”, Ms Sweeney said.

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While native tree species will be preferred they may not necessarily be typical Sydney trees.

Sydney’s climate, where days average about 22.7 degrees across the year and 26.7 degrees in summer, is forecast to shift by 2050 to be more like the climate of Grafton. The northern NSW town now averages 25.5 degrees across the year and 29.4 degrees during summer.

Some of the areas earmarked for more trees may, though, be planted with deciduous exotic species, particularly if residents’ solar panels would probably be affected by excessive shade.

“Certainly we’ll ask for community input to get the balance right,” Ms Sweeney said.

The greening plan, to be revealed on Wednesday, will then go on public exhibition to receive feedback for five weeks, with an aim to have it approved by council in July.