<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> 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.</p></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.

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

Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Greenest Capital of the Baltic States \u2013 A Spatial Comparison of Greenery"}

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...

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

Published Online: Nov 28, 2017

Page range: 160 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjreecm-2017-0012

Keywords
Baltic States, CORINE, degree of soil sealing, greenery, Urban Atlas, vegetation

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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

Published Online: Nov 28, 2017

Page range: 160 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjreecm-2017-0012

KeywordsBaltic States, CORINE, degree of soil sealing, greenery, Urban Atlas, vegetation

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Baltic States, CORINE, degree of soil sealing, greenery, Urban Atlas, vegetation