It’s called the “green divide” and it already says a lot: very soon, only the richest will have access to green areas, and therefore to the resulting well-being, while the less well-off are destined for gray areas and worse services.
It is the so-called “green gap”, precisely, outlined by researchers from the European Commission and the University of Copenhagen in a study published in Nature Communicationsaccording to which less than 15% of people living in the 862 cities analyzed have adequate access to trees, shade and green spaces. Ergo: very few people easily access greenery and nature with related beneficial effects for health and wallet.
The study also shows that cities in the richer north-west of Europe are twice as likely to meet the 3-30-300 standards than those in southern and eastern Europe, i.e. the guidelines for good living that recommend seeing at least 3 trees from your home, that 30% of the neighborhood in which you live is covered by greenery and that you live less than 300 meters from a park.
The study
The study highlights a reality that many people already experience in their daily lives: not all neighborhoods are the same when faced with heat, pollution and the lack of livable public spaces. In fact, the greenest areas tend to coincide with the richest settlements. On the contrary, in the most fragile and densely urbanized neighborhoods, where the need for trees, shade and parks is often greater, the presence of nature is scarcer.
This is where urban greenery stops being just an environmental issue and also becomes a social issue, since having trees near your home means being able to better deal with extreme temperatures, have meeting places, reduce stress and improve health. Not having them, however, means being more exposed to the effects of the climate crisis.
The 3-30-300 rule was designed precisely to make a fundamental principle understandable: greenery must be nearby, visible and widespread: a truly sustainable city must guarantee nature even in the peripheral, popular and most vulnerable neighbourhoods.
The strongest finding of the study is that the majority of European cities today fail to guarantee equal access to urban nature. According to the authors of the study, a real paradigm shift in urban planning is necessary: greenery can no longer be treated as a decorative element or as a luxury to be added afterwards, but must become an essential infrastructure, like transport, schools and health services.
If new green interventions end up only in central, tourist or already wealthy areas, the risk is to further widen inequalities. On the contrary, a true urban reforestation strategy should start from the areas most exposed to the heat, most built up and with less access to public spaces.
The message of the study is clear: in European cities, greenery is still too often a privilege. But in the midst of the climate crisis it should be considered a right. For everyone, not just for those who can afford to live in the tree-lined neighborhoods.
