Sydney is named as the fourth greenest city in the world [Infographic]

Do you know which cities in the world have the greenest space?

Well, Compare the Market's latest research looked at 20 cities across the world with the largest percentage of public green space and found the greenspace per capita for each.

And Sydney has been named the fourth greenest in the world!

With 155.4m2 of public green space available per person, Sydney ranks fourth, with Chengdu, China (653.6m2) and Oslo, Norway (532.2m2) leading the way in green space available per capita.

Nanjing, China, grabs third with over double the amount of green space (373.7m2 per person) as Sydney.

Some other notable mentions include Helsinki, Finland which came in 5th with 135.5m2 of space per person, Los Angeles, USA (7th) with 113.7m2 per person and Singapore, with 96.4m2 per capita, which rounds out the top 10.

The research also looked at the total green space as a percentage of the size of the city and found that Sydney comes in third, with 46% of the city’s area dedicated to parks and gardens.

Oslo, Norway (68%) and Singapore (47%) are the only cities with more dedicated green spaces.

How do people feel about living near parks?

In the survey, more than a quarter of respondents in each country indicated that living in close proximity to a park was extremely important to them.

Mr Matthew Keogh, writer for Compare the Market shared his insights:

"This figure was even higher in Australia and Canada in particular, where 34.9% of Australians and 36.4% of Canadians indicated the high importance of green spaces.

In these countries, 71% and 74% respectively said that proximity to green space would influence their decision to live in a certain location.

The stats were a little lower in the United States, where only 62% of respondents said their living location would be influenced by proximity to green space.

In fact, as many as 1 in 10 people (12.9%) said that green space proximity was of little or no importance to them at all."

Connection between green space and mental health

Well, we all know that trees improve air quality, but green space can also improve our mental health.

Mr Keogh further explained:

"According to author and psychology consultant Dr Jo Lukins, exposure to nature or green space has numerous positive physical and mental health benefits, including lower rates of heart disease, stroke, depression, stress, and general improved wellbeing."

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.