Economic Growth

Which European capitals have the most green spaces?

Paris green spaces tree cover

Having green spaces in urban areas is important on multiple counts. Image: Unsplash/Alexander Kagan

Anna Fleck
Data Journalist, Statista
  • Having green spaces in urban areas is important: they provide space for community activities, wildlife habitats and are vital in the fight against global warming.
  • Tree cover can lower the temperature of a city by several degrees, providing shade and a process call evapotranspiration during heatwaves.
  • The Nordic city of Oslo has the greatest share of green space at 72%.

Having green spaces in urban areas is important on multiple counts. They not only provide communities with places to relax, exercise and socialize, but they also bring wildlife to the area and help in the fight against global warming through carbon dioxide sequestration. Tree cover can even lower the temperature of a city by several degrees during heat waves through providing shade and a process called evapotranspiration.

According to data from the European Environment Agency (EEA), trees cover on average 30 percent of land in 38 of Europe’s capitals when viewed from above. The Nordic city of Oslo has the greatest share of green space at 72 percent, followed by the Swiss city of Bern (53 percent) and the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana (50 percent).

Paris falls far below the European average, with only 20 percent of the city under tree cover. The French capital ranks behind Madrid (39 percent) and Rome (24 percent). Greenery is even rarer in Athens, where trees cover only a tenth of the urban surface, while the Cypriot capital of Nicosia closes the ranking of the selected cities, with a rate of only 4 percent.

Green spaces in urban areas are vital. European cities have the greatest tree cover when viewed from above.
Green spaces in urban areas are vital. Image: Statista
Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about nature?

Have you read?
Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Economic Progress

Related topics:
Economic GrowthClimate ActionUrban Transformation
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Economic Progress is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Sustainable trade could be an opportunity for Indonesia. Here’s how

Kimberley Botwright

November 4, 2024

Global public debt to exceed $100 trillion, says IMF - plus other economy stories to read this week

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum