The Green Space Index is an annual report from the charity Fields in Trust which analyses the provision of parks and greenspaces across England, Scotland and Wales.

Headline findings

• 2.8 million people do not have a greenspace within a 10-minute walk from home
• average of 30 square metres greenspace per person across GB
• 6% of greenspace legally protected in perpetuity

Fields in Trust's Green Space Index analysis demonstrates the disparities between regions and nations that the Westminster Government's Levelling-Up programme is attempting to rectify. Fields in Trust found that, Yorkshire and Humberside, and the north east region fall well below the minimum score.  As a region, London’s greenspace is very accessible, but the region has the least greenspace per person, at just 19 sq.m.

Jo Barnett, Chair of Fields in Trust, said

" We know that parks and greenspaces play a vital role in people’s health and wellbeing, yet the Green Space Index demonstrates uneven provision across Great Britain, and our most vulnerable communities are impacted negatively.

Although the scale and interdependency across the levelling-up portfolio is intensely complex, parks and greenspaces deliver impacts across the range of social policy agendas yet remain undervalued for the multiple benefits they contribute to our communities. The climate crisis adds a new impetus to protect urban greenspace and as our work in Liverpool shows local authorities are recognising the important part greenspace plays in our neighbourhoods, towns and cities and stepping up to ensure it is future proofed."

Explore the Green Space Index findings and interactive map 

Whilst Scotland, at 38 sq.m. per person, does better on this index than both England and Wales in terms of most greenspace per person, recent research across Glasgow highlights that the quality of greenspace is a key issue affecting the extent to which those in more disadvantaged areas feel able to access and benefit from that greenspace.