To learn more and improve the management of public green spaces, Il Verde Editoriale and Myplant & Garden have launched a national survey that will involve all municipal administrations to collect data on the maintenance of green spaces.
The initiative was presented on 4 October in Milan by Graziella Zaini, director of Il Verde Editoriale and Valeria Randazzo, Myplant & Garden Exhibition Manager.
"Through the investigation - explained Zaini - we intend to collect information on the maintenance costs of public parks, to improve management and therefore the contribution that green can undoubtedly make for the well-being of the community, as well as increase the budget in view of 2030. ".
The questionnaire addressed to the municipalities was built on the basis of the scheme already used for the “La Città per il Verde” Award, which for 23 years has identified the municipalities that have distinguished themselves most for their quality greenery and related maintenance. Between 2000 and 2021, 4,969 projects were selected, including 135 winners.
The 2023 edition of Myplant & Garden will host both a conference in which the survey data will be presented, and the award ceremony of "The City for Green".
«Today it is essential to understand what investments of public bodies are for this sector and, where there are none, to understand why. In fact, we know that in addition to contributing to well-being, green investment is also an economic multiplier ", emphasized Valeria Randazzo.
The latest numbers released by openpolis.it in 2017 showed that the cities with more than 200 thousand inhabitants with the highest per capita expenditure on public parks were Venice (€ 53), Bari (€ 51) and Bologna (€ 43). Milan in fourth place with € 41.
The goal today, commented Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, president of WeTree who collaborates with the "La Città per il Verde" award, must be "to stimulate a circular vision as much as possible, considering landscape and environment contexts whose management falls directly on health and the well-being of citizens. It involves the commitment of institutions, politics, attention of citizens, associations all with the aim of seeing in a contextual way and not in pieces, restoring the balance between green and built ".