Prague is one of the greenest cities in Europe

InfrastructureNews

Prague’s share of parks, forests, and other greenery is the 13th largest among cities in the world and ninth in Europe, according to the HUGSI index for 2020, which maps urban vegetation. The survey looked at 155 cities in 60 countries.

The index shows that there are 179.8 square meters of green space for every Prague inhabitant. Grass and tree areas make up 56 percent of the city’s area, with 28 percent covered by trees and 27 percent by grass, and 1 percent by water. The overall health of the vegetation was at 0.74 on a scale of zero to one. The combined score for Prague, balancing all the monitored factors, was 73.04.

“I am clearly pleased with Prague’s ranking. Greening the capital is our priority. We are lucky that Prague has great conditions for that. Greenery cools our city, retains water, helps us fight heat islands, and also contributes to the city’s carbon neutrality”, said Prague Deputy Mayor Petr Hlubuček, responsible for the environment. “Every year we plant tens of thousands of new trees, completely new forests are being created in Prague, recently in Satalice, Běchovice or Na Musile, for example. We also devote great efforts to the maintenance and revitalization of our large parks, such as Stromovka, Letná, or Vítkov. We will continue to do so,” he added.

Prague inherited some important green areas from the past. The city has been renovating existing significant green areas and has also been systematically working on establishing new green areas both on former agricultural land and unmaintained areas.

Over the last 20 years, the area of public greenery has increased by more than 300 hectares, which Prague City Hall describes as a unique increase among European cities. Another 35 hectares of new green space is currently being developed.

Prague’s largest parks and forests include the forests Kunratický les at 300 hectares, and Klánovický les at 287.4 hectares, as well as the valleys Prokopské údolí at 205.6 hectares and Bohnické údolí at 90.8 hectares. The city’s most popular wooded parks are a bit smaller with Stromovka at 91.03 hectares, Petřín at 53.79 hectares, and Divoká Šárka at 25.17 hectares.

 

Photo credit Photo: IPR Praha. Source expats.cz