Commune · Flemish Region · NIS 44021

Ghent: counted in Article 8’s total

Gent / Gand

What the Nature Restoration Regulation counts in this commune, what changed since its 2024 base, and where to look in the atlas.

Residents
269,597
Area
157.8 km²
Sectors measured
201 of 201
LAU
lau2024.BE.44021

Article 8(1)

0.6 points under the green line: counted

Green in urban centres and clusters
44.4%0.6 points below the 45% line
Tree canopy there
18.9%8.9 points above the 10% line
Tree canopy per resident, whole commune
106m²

Its urban centres and clusters are 44.4% green and 18.9% tree canopy. A commune is left out of the national count only above 45% and 10%; Ghent is not. One of the other readings of Article 3(20) turns the verdict: see the table.

ReadingGreenCanopyVerdict
Official reading44.4%18.9%Counted
Arable land counted as green49.0%18.9%Exempt
Water not counted as green41.0%18.9%Counted
Commune built from Statbel sectors44.4%18.8%Counted

The zero measurement

In hectares, on the latest open data (2021)

Urban ecosystemAreaGreenCanopy
Urban centres and clusters10311 ha4581 ha · 44.4%1945 ha · 18.9%
The whole commune15815 ha7494 ha · 47.4%2861 ha · 18.1%

The form of the Dutch national zero measurement (PBL, 25 August 2026), with both boundaries the Commission leaves to a country. The Woody Vegetation Layer 2021 is allowed for draft plans only; the 2024 layer is shared with national authorities, not published.

Since the 2024 base

Tree canopy +16.8 ha beyond noise by summer 2026

Summer 2025LostGainedNet
Urban green−31.7 ha+29.0 ha−2.7 ha
Tree canopy−19.2 ha+53.3 ha+34.1 ha
Built-up−15.4 ha+21.3 ha+5.9 ha
Summer 2026LostGainedNet
Urban green−9.4 ha+23.5 ha+14.2 ha
Tree canopy−40.0 ha+56.8 ha+16.8 ha
Built-up−41.0 ha+18.7 ha−22.4 ha

Hectares as Dynamic World classifies the ground, summed over this commune’s sectors that moved beyond noise against their twelve matched places. Not the official layers, which do not exist yet for 2025 and 2026.

What the season bulletins name here

  • Kiekebossen · 2025 · building site−0.122 NDVI
  • Kiekebossen · 2026 · building site−0.069 NDVI
  • Klosse · 2026 · building site−0.061 NDVI
  • Lake · 2026 · canopy loss, two instruments agree−0.065 NDVI

Summers 2017–⁠2019→2021–⁠2024

5 sectors greener and 4 lost beyond noise, of 201 measured

Greenness against matched places

Built-up ground against matched places

Built-up ground: 5 sealed and 4 unsealed beyond noise.

The city’s tree register

68,240 trees the city manages

2020
967
2021
819
2022
1,113
2023
864
2024
2,258
2025
1,695

7,716 trees planted from 2020 to 2025, by the register’s own planting year.

Where the plantings went, 2020–⁠2025

Third of lived-in sectorsPlantingsResidentsPer 1,000 residents, this third vs the restPer 10 ha, this third vs the rest
Least canopy24%48%13.2 vs 39.09.6 vs 6.9
Poorest27%44%16.1 vs 34.910.8 vs 6.7
Hottest21%50%11.2 vs 41.87.8 vs 7.3

Per resident, fewer trees went to the third with the least canopy: 13.2 per 1,000 residents against 39.0 in the rest. Per hectare, more did: 9.6 per 10 ha against 6.9. Those sectors are dense, so both readings are true; neither says whether the trees were needed more there.

A snapshot of the register was taken on 27 September 2026. From the next one, the trees that leave it (felled, dead or re-surveyed; the register does not say which) will be counted by sector.

The city’s own register, Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik (Stad Gent). Only trees the city manages; gardens and private land are not in it.

On the record

Registered, audited and the dossier

The dossier the open rule picks