Measuring Britain's greenest urban centres

What is it about?

The research combined three metrics into a single greenness score (1. tree cover; 2. Ordnance Survey's open greenspace product; 3. measure of vegetation cover using normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) from satellite data). Of the 68 urban centres in Great Britain, we found that Exeter’s urban centre ranked highest, followed by Islington in London, Bristol, Bournemouth and Cambridge. Glasgow’s urban centre was the least green, with Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Liverpool and Leeds also in the lowest five.

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Photo by Benjamin Elliott on Unsplash

Photo by Benjamin Elliott on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Green space is important for biodiversity as well as for human wellbeing. Green space can also reduce surface temperatures, which is of particular importance in urban centres. Whilst some of Great Britain’s city centres are filled with trees and parks, others have little vegetation to break up the bricks, tarmac and concrete. We wanted to understand the spatial pattern of, and factors influencing, the greenness of our town and city centres. Research exploring green areas has often focused on the places around people’s homes. Prior to our research, no studies had focused specifically on urban centres, where people of diverse backgrounds may spend much time on activities such as work, recreation, and shopping. We hypothesised that larger centres might face increased development pressures and therefore have less green in their urban cores. Additionally, we wanted to explore the level of greenness of cities and if levels of deprivation influenced its greenness.

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