Even in the largest cities, forests and wooded and shrubs often occupy a larger area than urbanized areas. Experts of the Gethome.pl portal decided to check where it is easiest to reconcile the metropolitan life with the closeness of nature.
– In recent years, the landscape of the largest Polish cities has been evolving under the influence of “green transformation”, which is one of the priorities of local government authorities. This is manifested both in planning strategies and in specific investments and the involvement of residents – says Marek Wielgo, an expert of the Gethome.pl portal.
And as an example, he gives Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź and Wrocław, where a total of 16 new city parks were established last year. At the same time in Łódź we are dealing with a real revolution in the field of green areas. 10 new parks (including five of the forest nature) were created here on the initiative of the residents themselves as part of the Civic Eco -building. In Krakow, the function of a city gardener was created, which is to coordinate the actions of all entities dealing with greenery. The city authorities announce not only the purchase of subsequent areas for new parks, squares and gardens, but also “giving up” public space. This is already happening in Warsaw. In 2024, the Greenery Board of the Capital City of Warsaw “recovered” (removed asphalt and concrete) an area with a total area of approx. 3.3 thousand. square meters. In turn, the authorities of Wrocław are proud of the fact that in recent years as many as 56 new squares and greenery have been created here. Marek Wielgo points out that – according to the data of the Geoportal.gov.pl portal – only last year forest and wooded and shrubny areas increased in Wrocław by as much as 59 hectares (ha), in Krakow – by 50 ha, and in Warsaw – by 5 ha.
Experts of the Gethome.pl portal therefore decided to check the current level of “afforestation” of voivodship cities based on geoportal.gov.pl. At the same time, not only forests, but also landed and shrubny soils were included in the ranking. It turns out that Zielona Góra is still the most “forested” large city in Poland. Forest areas occupy over half of its surface. On the other hand, scientists from the Municipal Policy Observatory of the Institute of Cities and Regions (IRMIR) say about Zielona Góra that it is an example of an artificially overgrown city. What does it mean? Well, there are cities that instead of cooperating with nearby municipalities … absorb them. As a result, there are many areas within administrative boundaries that have little in common. The mentioned Zielona Góra in 2015 was expanded almost five times by the surrounding rural areas.
However, … Katowice is in second place, and this city is not overgrown. According to geoportal.gov.pl, only last year forest and wooded and shrubny areas increased in Katowice by 14 ha, although the administrative boundaries of this city did not change. – It is high time to overthrow the myth that the capital of Upper Silesia is a gray, industrial city. Forest areas occupy as much as 43% of its area. For comparison, the share of industrial areas is only 8% here – comments Marek Wielgo.
In third place, he mentions Bydgoszcz, in which forests and landed soils constitute 30% of the area. At the second pole are Rzeszów (3%), Gorzów Wielkopolski (5%) and Kraków (6%).
Marek Wielgo admits, however, that such a low share of green areas can be misleading. In fact, it is much larger, as demonstrated by the research of scientists of the IRMIR urban policy observatory based on satellite photos. It turned out that if they also include Household gardens, trees and shrubs between blocks and meadows (without arable fields) are among voivodship cities with a high participation of the so -called Biologically active areas were, among others Łódź and Poznań.
Scientists also point out that the availability of greenery is also important. It is about the participation of the inhabitants of a given city, who can reach on foot in a maximum of five minutes to the green areas with an area of at least 1 ha. Among provincial cities where green areas are at your fingertips for most residents are: Rzeszów and Kraków. In turn, a large share of greenery does not always mean its high availability, an example of which is, for example, Katowice.
There is no doubt that greenery in cities has an increasing impact on the quality of life of the inhabitants. Ba, “green infrastructure” is increasingly talking about greenery, because it is a tool for adaptation of cities to climate change. Trees and lawns filter impurities – they absorb suspended dust (PM10, PM2.5) and gases such as NO₂ or SO₂, which translates into lower incidence of respiratory diseases. In addition, green reduces the effect of the urban heat island. In other words, the planting of trees act like natural “air conditioners” – they take the ambient temperature up to a few degrees.
Urban green is conducive to motor activity – parks, walking paths and exercise squares encourage regular walks, running or cycling, which reduces the risk of obesity, cardiovascular and diabetes diseases. In addition, contact with nature reduces the level of stress, reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression by affecting the nervous and hormonal systems – the so -called The “forest bathing effect” is proof that it brings measurable psychological benefits for several dozen minutes spent in greenery.
That's not all. Green roofs, rain gardens and floodplains increase water infiltration in the ground, reducing the risk of flooding after heavy rainfall. Extensive ecological corridors and city forests and parks improve resistance to extreme weather phenomena. Of course, this also affects the real estate market. – Flats with a view of the forest or park find buyers faster. In addition, in the largest cities they reach at least a dozen or so percent higher price compared to apartments with similar parameters, but devoid of this value – says Gethome.pl expert.
Author: Marek Wielgo
