Urban gardens and parks make an important contribution to livable and sustainable cities. In addition to providing versatile recreational opportunities close to home, they absorb heavy rainfall and store air pollutants and carbon dioxide. Allotments and community gardens can also produce food. A monetary value can be attached to these services: Depending on size, location and design, an urban garden or park can generate social benefits ranging from hundreds of thousands to several million euros annually. The report presents the methodology and data basis in detail and evaluates the results.

Ecosystem services and material flows were calculated and monetarily evaluated for 13 selected gardens and parks in Berlin and Stuttgart. The evaluation of geodata and satellite images showed that gardens and parks avoid costs that would otherwise arise from climate change impacts and health damage. High social value is also created by the social benefits of green recreational spaces: representative surveys and choice experiments were used to determine how valuable these benefits are to local residents. Also, the value of the food produced in small and community gardens was extrapolated for both cities.