Amsterdam, Rotterdam score poorly on green cities ranking

The two biggest cities in the Netherlands did not score particularly well in the Husqvarna Urban Green Space Index. On this ranking of the greenest cities in the world, in a literal sense, Amsterdam came in 58th place and Rotterdam in 68th. Durban in South Africa is the greenest city in the world.

The Index ranked a total of 98 cities in 51 countries on the state of their vegetation. Using figures drawn from satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and deep learning techniques, the Hugsi ranking looked at the percentage of grass and trees in a city, the health of the vegetation, the distribution of green spaces, the green space per person, the number of trees per green area, and the development of green space.

Amsterdam scored an overall of 56.6 out of 100. The Dutch capital is made up of 18 percent trees, 11 percent grass, 16 percent water, and 53 percent other - buildings and streets and such. There is 70.1 square meters of green space per resident. The distribution of green space scored 27 percent.

Rotterdam scored an overall 49.8 out of 100. The city is 16 percent trees, 10 percent grass, 22 percent water, and 51 percent other. Rotterdam residents have more green space per person than their Amsterdam counterparts at 115.7 square meters. The green space distribution scored 25 percent.

On a European level, Amsterdam came in 18th place of the 24 European cities in the ranking. Rotterdam came in 22nd place.

For comparison, Durban scored an overall 84, with 42 percent trees, 18 percent grass, 1 percent water, and 38 percent other. Durban residents have 185.8 square meters of green space per person, and its distribution scored 66 percent.