Exeter tops Britain’s city centers for ‘greenness’ - while Glasgow comes in last
Tree cover, play and sporting areas support better health, equity and biodiversity
Peer-Reviewed PublicationIMAGE: EXETER IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND HAS BEEN ASSESSED AS THE GREENEST CITY CENTRE IN BRITAIN. view more
CREDIT: PIXABAY
A new study of 68 city centres in Great Britain – comparing ‘greenness’ of tree cover, vegetation and the presence of parks – has linked lower scores with higher levels of poor health, economic, education, crime and other deprivation outcomes.
The PLOS One study led by Flinders University, University of Sheffield, University of Melbourne and Environmental Protection Authority Victoria researchers, evaluated urban centres with larger populations of more than 100,000 people to create a metric of urban ecosystems and vegetation and human health, social equity and biodiversity.
Five cities in southern England were ranked highest (Exeter, Islington, Bristol, Bournemouth and Cambridge) and five in the previously industrial north had the lowest from Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Middlesbrough to Glasgow at the bottom.
“While previous studies have measured greenness in broader suburban areas, our study focuses on city centres where people of diverse backgrounds spend much time at work, recreation and shopping,” says author Dr Jake Robinson, a European microbial ecologist and adjunct Flinders University researcher.
“While people’s lives are enhanced by the greenness of their city, many cities have high tree densities in the suburban areas but not their urban centres.
“Not surprisingly, the urban centres with higher tree and vegetation cover, public green spaces including parks and sports fields, have developed after more focus on urban planning rather than urban sprawl and industrial growth, and now have lower levels of deprivation in general, including in human health metrics.”
In addition, the urban centres with larger populations had lower tree coverage and lower normalised difference vegetation index, measured by satellite observations of light absorption and reflection.
These disparities in city centre greenness across Britain should be incorporated in further city planning, says co-author Dr Paul Brindley from the University of Sheffield
“This work could help inform efforts by local authorities and urban planners to monitor greening interventions and boost the greenness of city centres in a more equitable manner,” Dr Brindley says.
It is projected that nearly 70% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities by 2050. Global urbanisation is putting increasing pressure on biodiversity and human health, including with harmful air pollution and other gases and particulate matter, and degrading habitats.
“The need to re-imagine and re-develop our urban city centres due to digital shopping technologies and societal changes provides and important opportunity to explicitly consider the enhancement of urban centre biodiversity,” the research concludes.
The research article, ‘Urban centre green metrics in Great Britain: A geospatial and socioecological study’ (2022), by JM Robinson, S Mavoa, K Robinson and P Brindley has been published in PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276962
Dr Paul Brindley is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, England. His research focuses on understanding the interplay between landscapes and people through the use of digital data and GIS (Geographic Information Science) mapping. University of Sheffield doctorate Jake M Robinson is a microbial ecologist based in the UK. He is passionate about researching microbes, ecosystems, social equity issues and the connections between them, and at the same time is keen to develop ways to conserve and restore nature. Invisible Friends is his first book.
JOURNAL
PLoS ONE
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Data/statistical analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Urban centre green metrics in Great Britain: A geospatial and socioecological study’
Great Britain’s city centers ranked
on “greenness”
Combined greenness metric shows Exeter’s urban center scores highest and Glasgow’s lowest
IMAGE: RESEARCHERS USED A NEW GREENNESS METRIC TO RANK THE UK’S 68 URBAN CENTERS WITH A POPULATION OF OVER 100,000, WITH THE TOP FIVE BEING EXETER, ISLINGTON, BRISTOL, BOURNEMOUTH, AND CAMBRIDGE, AND THE BOTTOM FIVE BEING GLASGOW, MIDDLESBROUGH, SHEFFIELD, LIVERPOOL, AND LEEDS . view more
CREDIT: ANNE-LISE PARIS (WWW.IN-GRAPHIDI.COM), PLOS, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/
A new study finds that Great Britain’s city centers vary considerably in their green attributes—such as tree cover, vegetation, and presence of parks—with potential implications for human health, social equity, and biodiversity. Dr. Jake Robinson of Flinders University and colleagues at the University of Sheffield, U.K., present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 23, 2022.
Trees, vegetation cover, and public greenspaces, including parks and sports fields, contribute to biodiversity and human health in urban ecosystems. While numerous prior studies have measured such “greenness” in broader suburban areas, none have focused specifically on city centers, where people of diverse backgrounds spend much time on activities such as work, recreation, and shopping.
Because many people’s lives may be affected by the greenness of city centers, Robinson and colleagues analyzed green metrics of urban centers for all 68 municipalities in Great Britain with populations of at least 100,000. Their analysis incorporated three metrics of greenness: tree cover, presence of greenspaces, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which uses satellite observations of light reflection and absorption to measure vegetation cover in a given area.
Combining all three metrics into a single greenness score, the researchers found that Exeter’s urban center ranks highest, followed by Islington, Bristol, Bournemouth, and Cambridge. Glasgow’s urban center is least green, with Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Leeds also in the lowest five. The authors note that the top five urban centers are all located in the south of England, while the bottom five urban centers relate to ex-industrial areas in the north of Great Britain.
Further analysis uncovered a statistical link between a lower greenness score and higher levels of deprivation, as measured according to crime risk, health, economics, education, and other related metrics. In addition, areas with larger populations had lower tree coverage and lower NDVI scores, but did not have fewer greenspaces.
These findings highlight disparities in greenness of city centers across Great Britain. Future research could incorporate alternative metrics of greenness or apply a similar analysis to city centers outside of Great Britain.
Dr. Robinson adds: “This work could help inform efforts by local authorities and urban planners to boost the greenness of city centers in an equitable manner.”
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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276962
Citation: Robinson JM, Mavoa S, Robinson K, Brindley P (2022) Urban centre green metrics in Great Britain: A geospatial and socioecological study. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0276962. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276962
Author Countries: UK, USA, Australia
Funding: The funding received for this manuscript is as follows: University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Research Fellowship. Dr Suzanne Mavoa University of Sheffield, Open Access publishing agreement with PLOS ONE, Dr Jake M. Robinson and Dr. Paul Brindley.
JOURNAL
PLoS ONE
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Observational study
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Urban centre green metrics in Great Britain: A geospatial and socioecological study
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
23-Nov-2022
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