Greenest capitals in Europe

Have you ever wondered which cities in Europe have the most tree cover? Our Biocities team looked at the data from the European Environment Agency, which includes European cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, to find out how cities like Rome, Oslo, Bern and Ljubljana rank.

Among Europe’s capitals, Oslo stands out with the highest tree cover, with an impressive 72.03%. It is followed by Bern and Ljubljana, both with just over 50%. Rome ranks much lower at 22nd place with only 24.08% tree coverage. However, when looking at the total area covered by trees rather than the percentage relative to city size, Rome rises to third place — right behind Oslo and Berlin —with 310 square kilometres of tree-covered land.

The 3-30-300 rule

The 3-30-300 rule provides clear criteria for the minimum provision of urban trees in our urban communities by setting the following three minimum requirements: 

• 3 mature trees visible from every home
• 30 % tree canopy cover in every neighbourhood
• 300 metres from the nearest high-quality public park or other green space
   

According to Cecil Konijnendijk, forest researcher and creator of the 3-30-300 rule, every urban planner should be inspired by this rule for proper sustainable city planning. 

“Having a lot of tree-covered surface in cities, which also means having trees with large tree canopies and therefore trees of a certain age and size, is important for various reasons,” explains Livia Podestà, from our Biocities. “Among the main ones, the larger the tree canopy, the more carbon dioxide the tree absorbs, effectively cleaning the city air. Furthermore,” she continues, “in increasingly hot summer periods, tree canopies lower the temperature of both the air and nearby surfaces (such as streets and building walls) by several degrees. Trees act as natural air conditioners, helping us reduce energy consumption.”

Top green cities in Italy

On 10 May, our Biocities team will join the Internazionale Kids festival in Reggio Emilia to talk about the importance of trees in cities with children. To make the topic more relatable to the audience, they also looked at how Italian cities rank with tree cover.  In the top 50, there are 11 Italian cities, with Savona, ranking in the first place in Europe with a tree coverage of 83.87% and Molfetta, with a tree coverage of 73.32%, in the ninth place. Also, Bisceglie, Bitonto, Avellino, La Spezia, Lecco, Trento, Terni, Bolzano and Livorno made the top 50.

More about the upcoming event in Italian. 

^{Photo: Kavalenkava / AdobeStock}