Urban green space availability in European cities

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Authors

External Research Organisations

  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin)
  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
  • University of Lodz
  • Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)586-596
Number of pages11
JournalEcological indicators
Volume70
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2016
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

Urban green space (UGS) availability has become an increasingly important aspect of planning and research because of the importance of green spaces for the wellbeing of urban residents. Municipalities across the European Union (EU) use different indicators in this area. Some cities provide per-capita threshold values for urban green space (UGS); some have recommendations regarding the minimum distance to green space while others have no recommendations at all. In this study, we assess green space availability in 299 EU cities according to land use and a population data grid. The results show a diverse picture across the EU. Southern European cities show below-average availability values, which may be explained by their low forest and tree cover and reflect the history of cities in Southern Europe. Comparatively, the above-average availability values in Northern European cities are a result of not only their biophysical conditions and the presence of rich forestland in general but also of Northern European attitudes toward urban living that naturally value having forests close to home. This assessment is complemented by a detailed case study analysis of two European cities – Berlin, Germany and Łódź, Poland. Results showed that this approach's explanatory power depends on the data used, scale of interest, resolution of data and estimated threshold value. By comparing results using different datasets and threshold values, we discuss opportunities and limitations for developing indicators of green space availability. We conclude that UGS availability is an important indicator to navigate urban complexity to improve human health and wellbeing but is only one component of the intricate social-ecological interactions within cities.

Keywords

    Berlin, Environmental justice, European Union, Urban Atlas, Urban green space availability, Łódź

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sustainable Development Goals

Cite this

Urban green space availability in European cities. / Kabisch, Nadja; Strohbach, Michael; Haase, Dagmar et al.
In: Ecological indicators, Vol. 70, 01.11.2016, p. 586-596.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Kabisch N, Strohbach M, Haase D, Kronenberg J. Urban green space availability in European cities. Ecological indicators. 2016 Nov 1;70:586-596. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.02.029
Kabisch, Nadja ; Strohbach, Michael ; Haase, Dagmar et al. / Urban green space availability in European cities. In: Ecological indicators. 2016 ; Vol. 70. pp. 586-596.
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