en.Wedoany.com Reported - A map report jointly released by the Australian environmental organization "Friends of the Earth" (Amigas de la Tierra) and the Architecture, Urbanism, and Sustainability Research Group (GIAU+S) at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) reveals that in 10 major Spanish cities, approximately 60% of the population cannot reach a quality green space of at least 1 hectare within a 300-meter walk from their homes. The study is based on the 3-30-300 rule proposed by urban forestry expert Cecil Konijnendijk, which stipulates that there should be at least three trees near a residence, a neighborhood vegetation coverage of no less than 30%, and a park accessible within a 300-meter walk, to assess green space accessibility and socio-spatial inequality patterns.

The report utilized urban planning data, orthophotos, and collaborative platforms such as OpenStreetMap to analyze 10 cities: Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid, Badajoz, Ourense, Santiago de Compostela, and Ibiza. The results show that Badajoz, Ourense, and Valencia have the poorest green space accessibility. The study also stratified data by residents' income levels to identify priority intervention areas, i.e., low-income regions with insufficient green spaces. The report notes that, overall, income-based differences in green space accessibility are not significant, and in some cities, communities with higher economic resources actually face greater green space deficits. According to Miguel Díaz-Carro, head of biodiversity and territory at Friends of the Earth, in other countries, there is typically a more linear correlation between income and access to nature.

Details for each city are as follows: In Badajoz, each resident has an average of 24.8 square meters of green space, but 73% of residents cannot access such spaces within 300 meters; in Valencia, the per capita green space area is only 3.48 square meters, with 80% of the population living more than 300 meters from large green areas; in Ourense, 78% of the population cannot reach green spaces within 300 meters, and this figure rises to 92% among the lowest income group. In Madrid, nearly 2 million people lack adequate green space accessibility, with some high-income areas in the city center having insufficient greenery. Districts such as Tetuán, Puente de Vallecas, San Blas-Canillejas, and Carabanchel/Usera have been identified as priority zones for increasing green spaces. In Seville, 55% of residents (approximately 684,164 people) face the same issue, with the report highlighting poor connectivity between large vegetated spaces and identifying industrial land that could be converted into green areas. In Zaragoza, although the restoration of the Ebro River banks as a green axis following the 2008 Expo, along with large spaces like the Venice Pine Forest and the José Antonio Labordeta Grand Park, has been beneficial, distribution is uneven, and 63% of residents still live more than 300 meters from such green spaces. In Palma (430,640 people), the per capita green space is 8.33 square meters, with 66% of the population having insufficient accessibility. Valladolid (297,129 people) has a relatively good overall green space ratio but still has room for improvement, with a recommendation to close the green ring.

In Ibiza, when measured solely by public green space data, 52% of high-income individuals and 34% of low-income individuals lack access to vegetated areas. However, the report notes that many high-income neighborhoods have private gardens and swimming pools, so the data should be interpreted in conjunction with private green spaces. Santiago de Compostela (98,716 people) serves as a positive case study in the research, where the river corridors along the Sar and Sarela rivers form a continuous vegetation belt connecting urban parks, historic gardens, and peri-urban natural spaces. The report did not identify any priority intervention areas, as the urban fringe areas with the highest green space deficits are closely linked to rural areas with high environmental quality.

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