The green side of the grey: Assessing greenspaces in built-up areas of Italy

Abstract Although greenspaces in built-up areas (GSB) heavily contribute to human health and wellbeing in anthropized environments, large-scale data and information on GSB are still lacking. This study aims to estimate abundance, coverage and average size of GSB in Italy through the integration of inventory and cartographic data, even considering GSB patches smaller than 0.5 ha. GSB were classified according to their type (forested and non-forested), canopy cover and location with respect to population density (from thinly to densely populated areas). We refer to built-up areas instead urban, thus including, for example, road infrastructures, buildings and sparse settlements in rural areas, otherwise neglected. Results show that 43.5% of built-up areas in Italy is unsealed, of which more than 18% is covered by GSB, mainly dominated by forested ones. Results also reveal that the number of forested GSB, their coverage and average patch size decrease with the increase of the population density, while their canopy cover follows the opposite trend. Main findings demonstrate that the proposed approach provides reliable GSB estimates to better understand interactions between humans and nature along an urban-rural gradient, thus representing a valuable support towards the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions in urban planning.