“Which city is the greenest in Europe?” - This question was answered in a bachelor thesis written by Camilla Jahns from meteoblue in cooperation with the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg at the beginning of this year. Therefore, urban green spaces in 54 European cities were calculated, based on NDVI data from Sentinel 2 satellite data. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) serves as the basis for identifying green spaces in the city area and is calculated through satellite imagery. You can find the precise numbers of the analysed cities in the second screenshot.
In general, cities in Central Europe tend to have higher share of green spaces than cities in Southern Europe. No significant correlation was found between urban green spaces (UGS) and population or city size.
The map shows the percentage of urban green spaces in selected cities. The analysis illustrates that the highest proportion of urban green spaces was found in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, followed by the German city of Münster, and the Swiss city of St. Gallen. Cities with the lowest proportion of green spaces are located in Southern Europe (Athens, Seville, Verona, and Valencia).
Additionally, the percentage of the area in a city with a distance below 150m to urban green areas was investigated. This metric defines how fast citizens can reach urban green areas. Based on the example of the city Valencia, it is clear that not only is the absolute proportion in a city important (Valencia results as the worst green city out of 54 European cities), but the distribution of urban green areas is also essential. 91 % of the citizens in Valencia can reach urban green spaces with less than 150 m walking distance. The third screenshot shows the numbers for 10 sample cities.
Our goal was to highlight the ongoing urbanisation and the increasing pace with which the lives of city dwellers will change in the coming years due to various urban characteristics. The research revealed the importance of urban green spaces and their ability to improve the quality of life in cities by impacting climate and social aspects. Our heat maps show the cities with a resolution of 10m, which allows you to explore the temperature differences between sealed and green spaces at the finest level of detail.
