Greenest suburbs in Gold Coast
Coombabah tops the ranking with about 314 hectares of parkland within a kilometre of the suburb centre, across 1 separate park. The 15 listed run from about 314 hectares down to 34. Parkland means public parks, gardens and reserves mapped in OpenStreetMap, measured as area rather than as a count of parks. It is not a measure of tree cover, so a suburb of large private gardens can be leafy without appearing here. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 57 eligible Gold Coast suburbs.
This ranking scores every eligible Gold Coast suburb on the total area of parks, gardens and nature reserves within a kilometre of the suburb centre, with the number of separate parks as a tiebreaker. It measures parkland you could walk to, not tree cover — a street of large private gardens is leafy without being green by this measure.
Area is the right unit here and a count of parks is not: counting features rates a dog park and a nature reserve the same. Measured in August 2026, Canberra held 394 mapped park features within 25 km of its centre against Sydney's 3,388, but 95.4 km2 of park area against Sydney's 71.9 — the average Canberra park is over eleven times the size. A ranking built on counts would have named the bush capital the least green city in the country. Each park counts for at most the area of the walking circle itself, so a single large reserve on the edge of the ring cannot decide the list. Park boundaries come from OpenStreetMap, so a park nobody has mapped is one this ranking cannot see.
Gold Coast suburbs with the most parkland nearby
Ranked on how much park and reserve area sits within a kilometre of the suburb centre. The number of separate parks is shown and breaks ties. Area, not a count of parks: counting features rates a dog park and a nature reserve the same.
Coombabah
QLD 4216 · 10,298 residents314 ha of parkland within 1 km · 1 separate park · largest 314 ha
Hollywell
QLD 4216 · 2,930 residents117 ha of parkland within 1 km · 10 separate parks · largest 112 ha
Tweed Heads West
NSW 2485 · 6,176 residents77 ha of parkland within 1 km · 5 separate parks · largest 70 ha
Main Beach
QLD 4217 · 3,998 residents75 ha of parkland within 1 km · 3 separate parks · largest 72 ha
Runaway Bay
QLD 4216 · 9,308 residents68 ha of parkland within 1 km · 4 separate parks · largest 52 ha
Helensvale
QLD 4212 · 18,949 residents62 ha of parkland within 1 km · 9 separate parks
Willow Vale
QLD 4209 · 2,279 residents43 ha of parkland within 1 km · 3 separate parks
Currumbin
QLD 4223 · 3,278 residents43 ha of parkland within 1 km · 16 separate parks
Biggera Waters
QLD 4216 · 9,973 residents42 ha of parkland within 1 km · 11 separate parks
Ormeau
QLD 4208 · 15,938 residents41 ha of parkland within 1 km · 2 separate parks
Southport
QLD 4215 · 36,786 residents39 ha of parkland within 1 km · 18 separate parks
Benowa
QLD 4217 · 9,889 residents37 ha of parkland within 1 km · 12 separate parks
Robina
QLD 4226 · 25,659 residents36 ha of parkland within 1 km · 28 separate parks
Varsity Lakes
QLD 4227 · 16,493 residents36 ha of parkland within 1 km · 26 separate parks
Pacific Pines
QLD 4211 · 16,664 residents34 ha of parkland within 1 km · 6 separate parks
Ranked from 57 qualifying suburbs.
Ranked entirely on the total area of parks, gardens and reserves within 1000 m of the suburb centre, percentile-ranked within Gold Coast's candidate pool. The number of separate parks is shown on every row and breaks ties, but does not otherwise move the order: percentile ranks record position rather than size, so a suburb with three times the parkland gains only a point or two, and a second weighted factor would decide the list while appearing to be a minor one. Area rather than a count of parks, because counting features rates a dog park and a nature reserve the same: measured in August 2026, Canberra held 394 mapped park features within 25 km of its centre against Sydney's 3,388, but 95.4 km² of park area against Sydney's 71.9. Each park counts for at most 3.14 km², the area of the circle itself, so one large reserve on the edge of the ring cannot decide the ranking. This measures public parkland you could walk to, not tree cover — a suburb of large private gardens can be leafy without appearing here — and boundaries come from OpenStreetMap, so an unmapped park is invisible to it. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
What are the greenest suburbs in Gold Coast?
Coombabah tops the ranking with about 314 hectares of parkland within a kilometre of the suburb centre, across 1 separate park. The 15 listed run from about 314 hectares down to 34. Parkland means public parks, gardens and reserves mapped in OpenStreetMap, measured as area rather than as a count of parks. It is not a measure of tree cover, so a suburb of large private gardens can be leafy without appearing here. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 57 eligible Gold Coast suburbs.
What makes a Gold Coast suburb 'greenest' here?
The total area of parks, gardens and nature reserves whose centre sits within 1,000 m of the centre of the suburb. It is a measure of parkland you could walk to, not of tree cover: a leafy street of large private gardens has no parkland in it and does not score.
Why rank on park area instead of the number of parks?
Because counting parks rates a dog park and a nature reserve the same. Measured across Australia in August 2026, Canberra had 394 park features within 25 km of its centre against Sydney's 3,388 — but 95.4 km2 of park area against Sydney's 71.9. Ranking on counts would have called the bush capital the least green city in the country.
Does the number of parks matter at all?
It is shown on every row and breaks ties, but it does not otherwise change the order. A weighted version was tried and dropped: scores are percentile ranks, which record position rather than size, so a suburb with three times the parkland of another gains only a point or two — and a factor meant to be minor ended up deciding the list.
How is a very large national park handled?
Each park counts for at most 3.14 km2, which is the area of the 1,000 m circle itself. A reserve larger than everything within walking distance of you cannot give you more green space than that area holds, and without the limit a single large reserve on the edge of the ring would decide the whole ranking.
Why isn't a suburb I know to be leafy on the Gold Coast list?
Most likely it has private gardens and street trees rather than public parkland, or its parks sit past the ring measured from the suburb centre. Park boundaries come from OpenStreetMap, so a park that has not been mapped is a park this ranking cannot see.
Same list in other cities
- Greenest suburbs in Sydney
- Greenest suburbs in Melbourne
- Greenest suburbs in Brisbane
- Greenest suburbs in Perth
- Greenest suburbs in Adelaide
- Greenest suburbs in Hobart
- Greenest suburbs in Darwin
- Greenest suburbs in Canberra
- Greenest suburbs in Newcastle
- Greenest suburbs in Central Coast
- Greenest suburbs in Sunshine Coast
- Greenest suburbs in Wollongong
- Greenest suburbs in Geelong
- Greenest suburbs in Townsville
- Greenest suburbs in Toowoomba
- Greenest suburbs in Busselton
- Greenest suburbs in Ballarat
- Greenest suburbs in Cairns
- Greenest suburbs in Albany
- Greenest suburbs in Ballina
- Greenest suburbs in Geraldton
- Greenest suburbs in Warragul
- Greenest suburbs in Bundaberg
- Greenest suburbs in Launceston
- Greenest suburbs in Bendigo
- Greenest suburbs in Rockhampton
- Greenest suburbs in Mackay
- Greenest suburbs in Albury – Wodonga
- Greenest suburbs in Camden Haven
- Greenest suburbs in Burnie
- Greenest suburbs in Wagga Wagga
- Greenest suburbs in Coffs Harbour
- Greenest suburbs in Alice Springs
- Greenest suburbs in Mount Isa
Related
Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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