New polls have revealed the greenest European capitals, with Paris at the top.
The study by straw experts Drinking Straw looked at the number of parks, gardens, wildlife areas, forests, playgrounds and water bodies compared to population size to see which areas have the most green space per 100,000 people.
The capital of France, Paris, was found to be the greenest of any capital, with 325 total green spaces comprising 171 parks, 127 gardens, a wildlife area, 16 playgrounds and ten bodies of water. When counting the population, it has 7.62 parks and 5.66 gardens per 100,000 people.
Luxembourg City comes in second with an impressive total of 13 green spaces, despite its smaller population comprising 8 parks, a garden and four playgrounds. There were 8.51 parks per 100,000 people, the highest of any city in the study.
Ireland’s capital Dublin ranks third on the list with 66 green spaces comprising 34 parks, 15 gardens, seven natural and wildlife areas, three playgrounds, one forest and six bodies of water. The study found that it has 6.47 parks and 2.86 gardens per 100,000 people when the population was counted.
Cardiff comes in fourth, with the Welsh capital home to 37 green spaces, comprising 18 parks, three gardens, five wildlife areas, three playgrounds, three forests and three bodies of water. When comparing with the population, it has 5.54 parks per 100,000 inhabitants.
With a total of 61 green spaces, Lisbon, capital of Portugal, completes the top five. The 61 green spaces are made up of 25 parks, 26 gardens, a wildlife area, seven playgrounds and two forests. There are 4.59 parks and 4.77 gardens per 100,000 people in the city.
London comes in 24th place out of all the capitals studied, which has the most green spaces with 356 in total, but when the population of the city is taken into account it falls outside the top ten. Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, with a total of 31 green spaces, ranks 17th in the population adjustment.
Ranking City Population Number of parks per 100k Number of gardens per 100k Number of nature/wildlife areas per 100k Number of playgrounds per 100k Number of forests per 100k Number of water bodies per 100k Number of green spaces per 100,000 people Total green spaces
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for Drinking Straw said: “While it may be the case that Europe’s most populous capitals have more infrastructure, this data shows that those at the top of the list also manage to combine this with a strong balance of infrastructure. people to green spaces too. In the case of cities like Luxembourg and Paris, there are a lot of green spaces compared to the number of people, which means you won’t be far from a park or garden in most areas.”
The study was carried out by Drinking Straw, a distributor, wholesaler and supplier of straws across Europe, offering flexible, eco-friendly and plastic-free wholesale stock.
