Inhabitants
per green area
UP-7
Urban
Environmental Problems
Pressure
1 Indicator
definition and unit of measurement
The
number of inhabitants per km
2
of
green urban area.
2 Placement
in the framework
2.1 5EAP:
Chapter
5: The themes and targets of the programme, section 5.5: The urban environment,
identifies the importance of protecting green areas in the urban environment.
Agenda
21:
Chapter
7: Promoting sustainable human settlement development, section C: Promoting
sustainable land-use planning and management, indicates the need to achieve
improved land-management practices to deal comprehensively with potentially
competing land uses.
International
conventions and agreements:
None.
Ranking:
Core
ranking:
7
(37%)
Policy
Relevance:
11
(2.7)
Analytical
Soundness:
15
(2.5)
Responsiveness:
14
(2.5)
Most
appropriate related state indicator:
Contamination
of surface water.
3 Significance
Purpose:
Green
areas perform important functions in the urban environment. They improve the
urban climate, capture atmospheric pollutants and provide recreation for urban
inhabitants. In urban areas however green space is often lost to more competing
land uses. The purpose of this indicator is to monitor the pressure of
population on green urban areas.
Relevance:
Urban
growth and the increased population threaten green space in urban areas,
natural habitats, and the quality of the urban environment.
Linkages
to other pressure indicators:
The
number of inhabitants per km
2
of
green area is linked to other pressure indicators such as UP-6: Land
consumption, and RD-3: Increase in territory permanently occupied by
urbanisation; infrastructure; waste-tipping and quarrying.
Targets:
None.
4 Methodological
description and underlying definitions
Underlying
definitions and concepts:
The
number of inhabitants per km
2
of
green areas increases in relation to increasing urban population and increasing
amount of green space lost to more competitive land uses in urban areas.
Measurement
methods:
Data
on urban green areas are collected at the local scale and classified under
local urban land uses classification systems.
Limitations
of the indicator:
Major
problems are due to different urban land use classification systems and
different definitions of urban areas across countries.
Alternative
definitions:
A
possible alternative is accessibility to green areas by the urban population.
