Greenest Capital of the Baltic States – A Spatial Comparison of Greenery

Abstract

The meaning of the term “green city” today is more related to sustainability rather than to vegetation or greenery. Therefore, the aim of this research is not to develop another complex green index, but simply to calculate and compare a share of greenery among functional urban areas of three Baltic capitals. Comparison was done using GIS tools and analysing Urban Atlas, CORINE and degree of soil sealing datasets. Although the results of Urban Atlas and CORINE datasets showed slight disagreement, it has been discovered that Tallinn has the highest share of greenery, Vilnius is in the middle and Riga is the last. Analysis of 1990, 2000, 2006 and 2012 CORINE datasets showed the highest relative decrease of greenery in Riga (2.53 %) over time, Tallinn was the second (1.44 %) and the smallest decrease (0.53 %) was in Vilnius. The analysis of degree of soil sealing demonstrated the highest relative share of pervious surfaces in Tallinn (95.5 %) and the smallest share in Vilnius (92.1 %), therefore this research nominates Tallinn as the greenest (literally) capital of the Baltic States.

Spatial and Temporal Changes in Supply and Demand for Ecosystem Services in Response to Urbanization: A Case Study in Vilnius, Lithuania

“…However, the data showed that the city of Vilnius was characterized by a high provision of recreational service, which confirmed that the accessibility of the population covered by the city's recreational green spaces was high in Vilnius [10]. The analysis of spatial data carried out between 1990 and 2012 showed that the relatively small decrease in greenery over time (0.53%) was determined in Vilnius, which indicates it as one of the greenest European cities with a sufficiently high recreation potential [40]. Research shows that many premature deaths in cities could be prevented by increasing exposure to green spaces, while contributing to sustainable, livable, and healthy spaces [41].…”

The Real Estate Market and its Influencing Factors for Sustainable Real Estate Development: A Case of Latvia

“…Buildings are necessary for any entrepreneurship, and their quality affects numerous aspects. The use of ecological engineering approaches and application of improved environmental policies may mitigate some past impacts, and could potentially create new development projects with higher ecological benefits (Kaveckis, 2017). According to Kaveckis (2017), although different "green city" initiatives exist, the big number of them uses complex indices and could have a subjective judgment.…”