Cardiff ‘one of greenest Eurocapitals’
CARDIFF has been ranked one of the greenest capitals in Europe.
A study has analysed the number of parks, gardens, wildlife areas, forests, playgrounds and bodies of water compared to the size of other European capital cities to see which have the most green spaces per 100,000 people.
The Welsh capital is ranked fourth with 37 green spaces, made up of 18 parks, three gardens, five wildlife areas, three playgrounds, three forests and three bodies of water.
When compared against its population it has 5.54 parks per 100,000 people.
On nature and wildlife areas Cardiff – which was ranked first out of the UK capitals – has the highest percentage per 100,000 head of population in the top 10 at 1.54. It also scores highly on bodies of water, like the River Taff, also at 1.54.
Paris has been ranked the greenest capital with 325 green spaces made up of 171 parks, 127 gardens, one wildlife area, 16 playgrounds and 10 bodies of water. This gives it 7.62 parks and 5.66 gardens per 100,000 people
Luxembourg City is ranked second with 13 green spaces.
Despite its smaller population, it has eight parks, one garden and four playgrounds. There were 8.51 parks per 100,000 people.
Ireland’s capital of Dublin is ranked third with 66 green spaces comprising 34 parks, 15 gardens, seven nature and wildlife areas, three playgrounds, one forest and six bodies of water.
The study – by straw specialists Drinking Straw – found it to have 6.47 parks and 2.86 gardens per 100,000 people when population was accounted for.
With a total of 61 green spaces, Portugal’s capital Lisbon rounds out the top five.
The 61 green spaces comprise 25 parks, 26 gardens, one wildlife area, seven playgrounds and two forests. There are 4.59 parks and 4.77 gardens per 100,000 people in the city.
Elsewhere in the top 10, the Slovakian capital of Bratislava was ranked sixth and Helsinki in Finland came seventh.
Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik – the second smallest by population in the top 10, after Luxembourg City – was eighth, Barcelona, the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, in Spain, was ninth, and Northern Ireland’s Belfast came tenth – the only other UK city after Cardiff to make it into the top 10.
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson from Drinking Straw said: “While it might be the case that Europe’s most populated capitals have the most infrastructure, this data shows that those at the top of the list also manage to combine that with a strong balance of people to green spaces as well.
“In the case of cities like Luxembourg and Paris, there are many green spaces compared to the number of people, meaning you won’t be far from a park or garden in most areas.”