The prestigious international journal Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning has published a paper presenting the results of a research project supported by Fondazione Alia Falck and Sistemi Urbani – FS, and carried out by the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at Politecnico di Milano (by Maria Chiara Pastore, Claudia Ida Maria Parenti and Corinna Patetta) within the Forestami project. The study offers a comprehensive reading of “publicly accessible urban green spaces” that contribute to health and wellbeing, and maps them on a metropolitan scale across the Milan area. The research combines quality and quantity: not only where green spaces are located, but also which green spaces are truly usable, based on size, characteristics and type.

The analysis distinguishes between formal spaces (parks and gardens) and informal spaces (woodlands and tree-covered agricultural areas), selected according to specific criteria such as size, tree cover, and active use by citizens. The study highlights the importance of enhancing and expanding the system of informal spaces. Almost 2,000 green spaces, both public and private, were identified, covering a total of 13,000 hectares, in line with WHO recommendations on accessibility standards and green space per capita. The mapping also reveals the uneven distribution of green spaces across the territory.

The study confirms the role of green spaces as essential public health infrastructure and as tools for promoting social equity, reinforcing Forestami’s mission: to increase tree cover and improve quality of life in the Milan Metropolitan Area.

Building on the maps presented in Cities, the Forestami research group at Politecnico di Milano has also published in LAND the study Measuring Accessibility of Green Spaces for the Health and Wellbeing of Inhabitants of the Milan Metropolitan Area. This second research focuses on the accessibility of green spaces, with particular attention to territorial equity and the impacts of climate change (urban heat islands and water runoff).

The findings show that only 37% of residential areas in the metropolitan territory have access to a green space for wellbeing within 300 meters, about a five-minute walk. This figure underlines the vulnerability of certain urban areas and the urgent need for new tree planting, which lies at the heart of Forestami’s mission.