Explained: Why greening our cities is not just about planting more trees

euronews (in English)

Explained: Why greening our cities is not just about planting more trees  European cities must expand their green space to meet the EU’s Nature Restoration Law targets. But without guidance and maintenance, planting the wrong greenery could lead to more problems.  In partnership with The European Commission  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/09/24/explained-why-greening-our-cities-is-not-just-about-planting-more-trees  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

Transcript

00:00This is probably how you imagine a green city.

00:04Tower blocks surrounded by plants, rooftop gardens, tree-lined streets.

00:10But for most Europeans, that's not a reality.

00:14As climate extremes become more frequent and severe,

00:18European cities are under pressure to adapt.

00:22The European Union has set a clear target.

00:25No city should lose green space or tree cover by 2030.

00:29And from 2031 onwards, urban green space should be expanded

00:34until it meets satisfactory levels.

00:37However, greening a city is not just about planting more trees.

00:42Because, if done wrong, it can lead to new problems.

00:46So, how do you green a city the right way?

00:50The World Health Organization recommends that everyone should live within 300 metres of a park or green area.

01:03In Europe, just fewer than half of city residents do.

01:07In fact, the only capital cities with more than 15% of their land occupied with green space are Stockholm, Athens and Dublin.

01:17In Ljubljana, that's just 1%.

01:20But the map changes if you look only at trees.

01:24Ljubljana leads Europe in tree canopy coverage, followed by Vilnius and Zagreb.

01:30This means millions of Europeans are missing out on the benefits that green spaces offer.

01:36Parks, gardens and trees are not only aesthetically pleasing,

01:41they can also lower temperatures, improve air quality and absorb excess rainfall.

01:47Research shows that our mental wellbeing is closely linked to how well we handle heat stress.

01:53However, if not well planned, in certain situations, vegetation can have the opposite effect.

02:01In some cases, in function of the geometry of the streets and how the city is planned,

02:08some streets can increase the level of air pollution.

02:12Because trees and their dense canopies, they can trap air pollution,

02:17especially if it's a street where a lot of motorized transport is passing by.

02:23Because it traps the atmospheric layer, it reduces the wind speed.

02:28So very locally, you can have increased levels of air pollution.

02:32And there's something similar happening with heat stress.

02:36That's why, for the Swedish researcher Jenny Linden,

02:40urban planners need to look beyond parks and trees.

02:44If you only look for trees, you're very limited in what you can put in the city outside of parks.

02:50Then it's just a few places where there's actually room for trees.

02:55But green walls, they provide cooling for the building,

03:01reduces the energy need for cooling inside the building.

03:06Same for green roofs.

03:07And although they don't have the same benefits as trees,

03:11they do increase the total leaf area.

03:14So they increase how much pollutants are removed from the air

03:19as they get stuck on the leaves instead of exposed to us.

03:24But choosing the right type of greenery is part of the challenge.

03:29When it comes to tree planting, researchers say it shouldn't be about how many trees are planted,

03:35but which ones and where exactly.

03:39Without proper guidance, we could be planting the wrong species in the wrong places.

03:45Cities that planted just one species learn this the hard way.

03:50The main focus should be site specific tree selection.

03:54Like they need to tolerate the site today and tomorrow.

03:57But we have a big issue in Europe that we have a very limited diversity of trees.

04:03And Amsterdam and Malmö have an experience when you lose a lot of trees.

04:10They did it because they have planted a lot of elms.

04:13And then the Dutch M disease came and there are areas in Amsterdam and Malmö that lost all the trees.

04:20They have to start all over again.

04:22This is very fragile because if these overused species get hit by a disease or a pest,

04:28and you lose a large amount of trees, you also lose all these benefits and ecosystem services.

04:35Most researchers agree. If Europe does not get urban greening rights, many cities could become unlivable.

04:46The challenge is making sure the vegetation we plant today will still be healthy decades from now.

04:53So, which is why you are now?

04:54Let's look at our website now.

04:55Let's see here now.

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Explained: Why greening our cities is not just about planting more trees

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Explained: Why greening our cities is not just about planting more trees