2018 State of Scotland's greenspace report

The Third State of Scotland’s Greenspace Report reveals the extent and type of urban greenspace in all 32 Scottish local authority areas.

The report also provides summary information from the 2017 Greenspace Use and Attitude Survey and the Improvement Service Local Government Benchmarking Framework

• Each year Scots make over 162 million visits to parks and greenspaces
• Greenspace is a universal service with nearly half (43%) of urban residents visiting their local greenspace at least once a week
• People who live within a 5 minute walk of their local greenspace are significantly more likely to visit once a week or more often, compared to those living further away
• Greenspace is a good value investment - a study of Edinburgh’s parks found that every £1 invested in the city’s parks and greenspaces delivered £12 return in social and environmental benefits
• Scottish Councils spend an average of £21.58 per person each year on parks and greenspace services – this has reduced by 24% in the last 6 years
• Spending on only three other Council services (roads, planning and street cleansing) has fallen further than parks and greenspaces
• More than half (54%) of the urban land area of Scotland is greenspace

You will find more information about surveys, statistics and research in the Resource Library under ‘Research and Surveys’