Heat check: Saxon cities get a green card

Southern Germany scores poorly

Cities in southern Germany scored particularly poorly, specifically Ludwigshafen (Rhineland-Palatinate), Heilbronn (Baden-Württemberg), Regensburg (Bavaria), Worms, Mainz (both Rhineland-Palatinate), Ludwigsburg (Baden-Württemberg) and Ingolstadt (Bavaria). By contrast, Umwelthilfe rated Detmold, Ratingen (both North Rhine-Westphalia), Potsdam (Brandenburg), Jena (Thuringia) and Hattingen (North Rhine-Westphalia) as exemplary.

Almost all Saxon cities in the top third

In Saxony, Görlitz performed best in 30th place, followed by Plauen (33), Chemnitz (36), Dresden (42), Zwickau (49) and, slightly behind, Leipzig (85). With the exception of Leipzig, all are in the top third of the ranking.

Plauen has the highest proportion of green volume with 3.19 cubic meters per square meter of space, with Görlitz at the bottom (2.34). Across Germany, the spectrum ranges from 1.35 in Worms to 6.73 in Kaiserslautern (both Rhineland-Palatinate). Görlitz is again ahead in terms of the degree of sealing (38.3 percent), with Leipzig achieving the highest value in the state (44.9 percent). Nationwide, the figure is 45 percent.