A walk to the park? Assessing access to green areas in Europe's cities

Update using completed Copernicus urban atlas data

Green areas in cities, like parks, public gardens and nearby forests fulfil a variety of functions, ranging from ecological values to recreational functions. They also provide aesthetic value and they play a role in promoting public health. In a general way, these areas contribute to a better quality of life of the inhabitants.

This updated working paper presents a methodology that takes into account the spatial distribution of both population and green areas throughout the cities' territory, and produces indicators on the proximity of the green areas to the urban population. To obtain comparable results for all cities, harmonised EU-wide data sources were used, like the complete set of Copernicus Urban Atlas land use data and census-based population figures at the highest spatial resolution possible.