Greenest suburbs in Newcastle
Dudley tops the ranking with about 252 hectares of parkland within a kilometre of the suburb centre, across 3 separate parks. The 15 listed run from about 252 hectares down to 24. 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 108 eligible Newcastle suburbs.
This ranking scores every eligible Newcastle 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.
Newcastle 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.
Dudley
NSW 2290 · 2,505 residents252 ha of parkland within 1 km · 3 separate parks · largest 245 ha
Fletcher
NSW 2287 · 8,014 residents72 ha of parkland within 1 km · 4 separate parks · largest 66 ha
Broadmeadow
NSW 2292 · 1,688 residents46 ha of parkland within 1 km · 10 separate parks
Waratah West
NSW 2298 · 3,142 residents46 ha of parkland within 1 km · 11 separate parks
Waratah
NSW 2298 · 4,927 residents36 ha of parkland within 1 km · 8 separate parks
Maryville
NSW 2293 · 1,671 residents34 ha of parkland within 1 km · 11 separate parks
Cooks Hill
NSW 2300 · 3,774 residents33 ha of parkland within 1 km · 10 separate parks
North Lambton
NSW 2299 · 3,454 residents32 ha of parkland within 1 km · 10 separate parks
Speers Point
NSW 2284 · 3,400 residents30 ha of parkland within 1 km · 2 separate parks
Hamilton
NSW 2303 · 4,614 residents30 ha of parkland within 1 km · 5 separate parks
Stockton
NSW 2295 · 4,046 residents29 ha of parkland within 1 km · 2 separate parks
Maitland
NSW 2320 · 1,972 residents27 ha of parkland within 1 km · 2 separate parks
Newcastle
NSW 2300 · 3,852 residents26 ha of parkland within 1 km · 11 separate parks
Islington
NSW 2296 · 2,026 residents25 ha of parkland within 1 km · 7 separate parks
The Hill
NSW 2300 · 2,076 residents24 ha of parkland within 1 km · 10 separate parks
Ranked from 108 qualifying suburbs.
Ranked entirely on the total area of parks, gardens and reserves within 1000 m of the suburb centre, percentile-ranked within Newcastle'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 Newcastle?
Dudley tops the ranking with about 252 hectares of parkland within a kilometre of the suburb centre, across 3 separate parks. The 15 listed run from about 252 hectares down to 24. 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 108 eligible Newcastle suburbs.
What makes a Newcastle 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 Newcastle 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 Central Coast
- Greenest suburbs in Sunshine Coast
- Greenest suburbs in Gold 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 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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