How Green Are The Capitals of Europe?

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.