From green spaces to playgrounds: the new maps of sustainable Genoa

Genoa is stepping up its efforts to become a more liveable, safe and healthy city through a new tool for transparency and sustainable urban planning. To mark Earth Day, new georeferenced maps of the ‘city of trees’ and the ‘city of children’ have been made available online, offering an up-to-date and accessible overview of the green spaces and play areas within the municipal area.

The initiative marks a concrete step forward in responsible land management. The tree census, which until now has been incomplete, is finally being made public and can be updated, allowing people to understand the distribution of green spaces and identify areas most lacking in trees. This is complemented by the mapping of around 280 play areas across the municipal area, providing an up-to-date snapshot of spaces dedicated to children. The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to ensure transparency; on the other, to provide a useful tool for guiding urban policy.

The maps serve as an operational tool for improving the quality of urban life. They enable the planning of targeted interventions in public green spaces, including measures to combat heat islands and improve air quality – key issues for a densely built city such as Genoa. At the same time, the City Council is working on the ‘Genoa: A Playable City’ project, which involves installing temporary play facilities in urban spaces and partially repurposing roads and car parks, in collaboration with the local boroughs, to trial new ways of using public space before any permanent structural changes are made.

The project forms part of the initiative launched by the City of Genoa with the presentation of the city’s first Sustainability Report, officially unveiled on 22 April 2026 at the Circular City Forum. The document serves as a strategic tool to make public policies in the environmental, social and economic spheres measurable and verifiable, through 160 indicators focusing on liveability, inclusion, development, well-being, sustainability and attractiveness.

In this context, the updated mapping of urban green spaces and play areas makes a concrete contribution to defining liveability indicators, providing a detailed overview of the city’s green spaces and areas dedicated to children, designed to ensure safer, more accessible and better distributed play areas across the city. This is a concrete example of how the city’s strategic objectives are translated into tangible actions.

The initiative is fully in line with the ‘Liveability’ pillar of the Genoa Action Plan 2050, which promotes a city capable of ensuring well-being, safety and health through high-quality public spaces, accessible green areas, good air quality and efficient urban services.

Investing in open data, urban greenery and spaces for children means enhancing Genoa’s appeal to residents, businesses and investors, building sustainable development based on the quality of urban space and collective well-being.

Written by: Arianna Morello