The degree of greenery in Łódź city, Poland – clearing up discrepancies between official statistics and satellite data

Abstract

Motives: According to public statistics guidelines, areas officially classified in Lodz city as urban greenery include only forests, parks, lawns, squares and cemeteries. Areas of so-called unsealed greenery are omitted, which, however, have a great positive impact on improving the living conditions of the population. By taking information from satellite images and comparing them with official data, we have received a closer to the reality picture of the city, which is much more better than it would appear from official statistical data. Another dimension which the study addresses is the uneven distribution of greenery of a certain quality in individual units of the city. Aim: Comparing these data with the fact that the distribution of places of residence is also uneven, an attempt was made to assess the accessibility of green areas for the inhabitants of Lodz city. Results: The results show that there are much more green spaces, similar in terms of vegetation abundance to the official green spaces. That means the city is underestimated when talking about the degree of greenery.