Page 17 - State of Biodiversity 2019-2020

About HUGSI
Husqvarna Urban Green Space Index (HUGSI) is quantifying urban green space using satellite data analysis.We do this to promote the value of green space and to help safeguard urban green space by providing objective and recurring monitoring.We are right now monitoring a growing number of 155 cities in 60 countries globally, caring for a population of almost 600 million people.
Visit: www.hugsi.green
DURBAN (ETHEKWINI) AWARDED GLOBAL GREEN MODEL CITY BY HUSQVARNA AND THE HUGSI-INDEX 2019
In the first edition of HUGSI (Husqvarna Green Space Index) launched in September 2019, the City of Durban was awarded the Global Green Model City of 2019 as being the greenest city of the Index among 98 global cities.
“We were very impressed by the greenness in the City of Durban and although Durban has good natural conditions for being green, you have also taken deliberate and decisive actions to reach to this point.We hope that Durban can act continuously as a role model and inspiration for cities that would like to create better conditions for urban green space and become vibrant green from urban vegetation,” Erik Swan, Product Owner for HUGSI.green at Husqvarna Group.
Green spaces are the lungs of cities, improving air quality, managing flooding and rainwater, and contributing to the physical and mental health of citizens.As urbanisation continues, it is vital to monitor the proportion between grey and green areas.
It takes political guidance, citizen participation and cross-sector collaboration to turn the vision for urban green space into reality.
That’s why Husqvarna created HUGSI – to raise the awareness about the value of urban green space among citizens, support city officials and politicians to make data informed decisions and facilitate the collaboration across industries and organisations to together make a ‘smart and sustainable city’ a reality.
“It all began with two basic questions: How green are cities really? Do they get greener? We just wanted to find out,” said Swan. It was made possible through satellite image analysis and AI to monitor a large number of cities recurring and with objective KPIs. HUGSI.green will be updated with new data, greater detail and more cities in December 2020.
Green KPIs for DURBAN – HUGSI 2019
Vegetation percentage Health of vegetation: NDVI Distribution
Green space per capita
60%, trees representing 42%, grass representing 18% of the total area 0.73 (on a scale 0-1), indicating very healthy vegetation
66%, indicating evenly distributed green space in the city 185,8m2/person
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