Vilnius has been declared the greenest city in Europe and the third in the world



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A press release states that the HUGSI ranking consists of 155 cities around the world in 60 countries whose satellite images have been analyzed using computer vision and deep learning technology. Taking into account the abundance, proportions, distribution and condition of the vegetation, it was found that up to 49% of the Vilnius area is occupied by trees, 12% by meadows, 1% by bodies of water and 37% by buildings. , roads, parking lots and more.

In the index of the greenest cities in the world, the Lithuanian capital was surpassed by the city of Charlotte in the US state of North Carolina and Durban in South Africa, which was declared a model city. Dortmund (Germany) and Krakow (Poland) were also among the five greenest cities. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, was ranked 56th, while Riga, the capital of neighboring Latvia, remained in 102nd place.

According to the index, Vilnius’ green zone has increased by 1.07% since last year and this is the best positive change among the 30 greenest cities in the world.

Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius was pleased that continued efforts towards a greener capital have gained international recognition: “As the whole world faces great challenges due to climate change, Vilnius highly values ​​its property: green areas really impressive. First, they are reactive forests, which have been responsibly cultivated by professional foresters (municipal employees) for more than a decade.

Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral

Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral

There are also green streets and squares in the city, whose vegetation has been intensively renovated in recent years. In order for our grandchildren to enjoy the green streets of the capital, we need to plant trees today. That is what we are doing, taking care to put together all the fuses to preserve the existing mature trees during the development of the city. So even though the evaluation is unexpected, I think he earns it with our constant work. “

The HUGSI project was born a few years ago when Husqvarna and 20tree.ai joined forces to help cities around the world protect green spaces. Green in cities is necessary not only for the fight against pollution, but also for recreational, sporting purposes and the maintenance of psychological health.

As cities grow, green spaces in metropolitan areas are increasingly being replaced by a variety of buildings, roads, and other structures, so HUGSI lets you see the real picture in numbers and determine the change in spaces. greens in cities over time. To maintain a healthy balance between urban green and gray areas, politicians, municipalities, urban planners and other decision makers in infrastructure development are invited to use the index data.

The region with the greenest metropolises is the European continent, with an average of 45% vegetation in cities, while the lowest levels of vegetation (29%) are found in Latin America and South and West Asia.

The HUGSI index was launched in 2019, when 98 cities were evaluated, and this year the study looked at 57 more cities. “With the release of the HUGSI city index last year, we received a lot of interest and questions, so this year we conducted an even larger study, which we hope will be relevant and useful to city representatives, green space planners and urban residents themselves, “said Erik Swan, product manager for HUGSI.

According to the index, Vilnius’ green zone has increased by 1.07% since last year and this is the best positive change among the 30 greenest cities in the world. The highest growth in vegetation was recorded in Karachi, Pakistan (+ 5.17%), while the city of Wuhan in China lost the most vegetation in one year (-14.88%).

While many metropolitan areas around the world have seen an increase in green space over the past year, the total amount of green space in cities is reported to have decreased by -0.01% or 14 million. kv. meters. Together, cities in Europe, Latin America, South and West Asia have managed to increase their green space by as much as 40 million. kv. meters, but the efforts of all these regions were overshadowed by up to 52 million square meters. meters of green space lost to China.

The HUGSI index revealed that the global average for green areas in metropolitan areas is 39%. The region with the greenest metropolises is the European continent, with an average of 45% vegetation in cities, while the lowest levels of vegetation (29%) are found in Latin America and South and West Asia. We remind you that the amount of green areas in Vilnius reaches 62%, which means that the Lithuanian capital is 23% greener than the average world metropolis.

Regional Champions:

Africa: Durban (South Africa)
East Central Asia: Hong Kong (China)
East, Southeast Asia and Oceania: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
Europe: Vilnius (Lithuania)
Latin America: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
North America: Charlotte (North Carolina, USA)
South and West Asia: Dhaka, Bangladesh



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