The municipality São Paulo has been investing in the deployment of green areas for improving citizens’ quality of life. In this regard, the “Secretaria do Verde e do Meio Ambiente” of São Paulo has been increasing green areas through an afforestation program and the creation of new urban parks. By means of emergy environmental accounting, this paper evaluates 73 parks in São Paulo. However, there is no quantitative assessment regarding the environmental benefits of this initiative. Emergy indices and costs have been accounted to assess whether parks properly utilize natural resources; which parks use the local environmental resources properly; which ones demand more investment by the municipality; and which ones generate greater profit to the city’s prefecture in terms of environmental services. The ratio between natural resources and those from the economy (I/F) was established as an important indicator to assist the management of the existing urban parks. The relationship I/F x Em$/m² is proposed as a tool for decision-making, determining the best configuration of each park and prioritizing actions for new projects and the maintenance of the old ones.
Emergy; Environmental indicators; Environmental accounting; Urban parks
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