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Vegetation in cities and its underestimated benefits to public health
CPME publication date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009The fourth “Assises" of European Landscape took place in Strasbourg on 26-27-28 October 2009, gathering elected officials and stakeholders in landscaping and environment.
In the context of the presentation of the “Green City” European initiative (which aims at improving urban life thanks to vegetation and environmental management) the benefits to public health of the presence of vegetation in cities were emphasized:
living near a park could diminish the risks of depression, anxiety, respiratory diseases and prevent abnormally high death rates in case of heat wave. Like air filters, trees absorb not only CO2, but also ozone and nitrogen dioxide. They fix the dust and fine particles. Their shadows as well as the phenomenon of evapotranspiration cool the temperature down.
Vegetation in cities could also play a major role in the fight against climate change:
a 100 square meters area planted with trees in the heart of an urban sector would lower the temperature of 1°C within a 100 meters radius, according to certain studies. And in direct sunlight, the temperature of a field - or roof - covered in turf can be up to 10 ° C lower than an asphalt surface.
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