Edinburgh added more than 242,000m2 of green space over the last year. That’s more than any other UK city that’s part of Husqvarna’s annual urban green space index.
It came second in the list of European cities that participate in HUGSI (Husqvarna Urban Green Space Insights).
Rome topped the list, adding 283,800m2. It is one of five Italian cities to make the top 10, followed by Genoa, Turin, Milano (Metro) and Verona.
Leicester is the only other UK city to make the top 10, gaining 57,900m2 of green space compared to last year, putting it in seventh.
Europe makes up 75% of the cities analysed by HUGSI. The greenest city amongst the capitals that Husqvarna follows on the continent is Vilnius in Lithuania, which has the highest percentage of green space at 68%. It also has the most urban green space per capita at 226m2.
Globally, urban green space decreased by 63 million square metres across the 344 cities analysed by HUGSI; 95 million square metres were added whilst 158 million square metres were lost.
There are positive net gains in 87 cities, though, where more green space was added than removed. In Europe, 76 cities out of 257 are net positive.
The average proportion of urban green space amongst participating cities remains 43% on average, with 65 cities being added to the analysis over the last year.
It would be really interesting to understand how cities such as Edinburgh have been able to add so much additional green space