With over 3,000 parks and open spaces, London is one of the world’s greenest cities, but some of its boroughs offer more green space per person than others.
Online property portal Share to Buy have revealed their 2021 outdoor index of the top ten London boroughs that currently have the greenest outdoor spaces by comparing public parks to people ratio.
With an impressive public space to people ratio, Kingston Upon Thames tops the list as the best London borough for most outdoor space.
With 183 parks, gardens, recreation grounds and nature reserves, there is an outdoor space for every 970 people, making Kingston the only London borough with one park per thousand residents.
According to the lockdown easing plan, by March 29th, social gatherings of up to six people or two households in public spaces will be allowed again.
That means Brits can once again visit some of the most beautiful parks and green spaces in London.
Top 10 London Boroughs Ranked
London boroughs offer a surprising amount of green space for a bustling city like the capital:
| London Borough | Number of public parks | Population per borough | Number of people per park |
| Kingston upon Thames | 183 | 177,507 | 970 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 128 | 198,019 | 1,547 |
| Islington | 102 | 242,467 | 2,377 |
| Bexley | 100 | 248,287 | 2,483 |
| Barnet | 159 | 395,869 | 2,490 |
| Sutton | 80 | 206,349 | 2,579 |
| Bromley | 128 | 332,336 | 2,596 |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 60 | 156,129 | 2,602 |
| Tower Hamlets | 120 | 324,745 | 2,706 |
| Enfield | 123 | 333,794 | 2,714 |
Richmond Upon Thames ranks second, offering one outdoor space per 1,547 people. Included in Richmond’s 128 public green spaces is the huge 966-hectare expanse of Richmond Park.
As a national nature reserve, Richmond Park offers brooks and ponds, flora and gardens, wildlife, including free-roaming fallow deer, and the city’s breathtaking viewpoints.
Some of the boroughs with the least outdoor space include Southwark, with an outdoor space for every 13,000 people, and Newham, with an open space for every 11,000 people.
However, what these areas may lack in green space is countered by plenty of nearby amenities, including bars, restaurants, recreational facilities, and local shops. Notable amenities include Borough Market in Southwark and Westfields Stratford City in Newham!
Most Popular Outdoor Spaces in London
By analysing monthly Google search volumes, Share to Buy also reveals which outdoor spaces people are searching for the most:
| Royal Park | Number of people searching on Google each month |
| Richmond Park | 90,500 |
| Hyde Park | 74,000 |
| Regents Park | 49,500 |
| St James’s Park | 40,500 |
| Greenwich Park | 33,100 |
| Bush Park | 33,100 |
| Green Park | 22,200 |
| Kensington Gardens | 12,100 |
| Brompton Cemetery | 36,00 |
| Victoria Gardens | 2,900 |
Escaping City Life: Green Space Across the UK
With holiday accommodation set to open on April 12th, a visit to one of the top UK green spaces and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty could be an option for the ultimate green fix. Here are the top 10 most searched places to visit:
| Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty | Number of people searching on Google each month |
| Cotswolds | 246,000 |
| Cornwall | 201,000 |
| Isle of Wight | 165,000 |
| Isles of Scilly | 110,000 |
| Dorset | 90,500 |
| Malvern Hills | 33,100 |
| Cannock Chase | 27,100 |
| Surrey Hills | 14,800 |
| Chiltern Hills | 12,100 |
| Norfolk Coast | 9,900 |
With summer quickly approaching and lockdown restrictions easing, meeting friends and family in the sun is right around the corner which means it’s not long to enjoy some of London’s top outdoor spaces above this summer.
Methodology: Data sourced by Statista by looking at the number of parks and open spaces from individual council websites and compared this to the population data. For the search volumes, this was analysed in the last 12 months on SEMRush between March 2020-March 2021.