Introduction:

Urban residents are aware of the positive effects of being surrounded by nature.

Objective:

A method was tested for identifying urban green areas and determining the attitude of the actors involved in the process of ground and roof greening.

Materials and methods:

Roofs available for the establishment of green areas were quantified. Residents were interviewed to ascertain their willingness to install and maintain a green roof. The study was carried out through a techno-socioeconomic evaluation. The Willingness-To-Green Index (WTG) was used to analyze the presence or absence of plants on roofs.

Results and discussion:

A new index, named the Green Evaluation Weighted Index (GEWI), was proposed to measure the "presence of green" in an urban environment. The index establishes the relationship between the number of roofs and the WTG of the inhabitants. The districts of Salamanca (Madrid), San Martí (Barcelona) and Nervión (Seville) had greater GEWI; that is, greater presence of urban agriculture.

Conclusions:

The proposed methodology and index show the different possibilities that the study areas have to increase their green areas. Some factors such as reducing paperwork or facilitating the installation of green roofs could help achieve this goal.

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