There has been increasing pressure on water resources in cities due to the proliferation
of urban green areas. In the Mediterranean climate, only a small part of the plants’ water needs
is supplied by rainfall during the winter months. Thus, in Algarve (Portugal) irrigation of the
urban landscapes is required almost all year round. The aims of this study were to evaluate the
maintenance of the urban landscapes of São Brás de Alportel (Algarve) during a year, based on
the characterization of the vegetation of the urban gardens, the climate data, the analysis of the
irrigation systems, the calculation of the plants water requirements and the normalized di erence
vegetation index (NDVI). By crossing all this information, it was possible to understand if the current
maintenance level is the most suitable for sustainable irrigated urban landscapes. In most of the
gardens, it was possible to establish a relationship between the gross irrigation water requirements
and NDVI. In general, the NDVI allowed us to study the urban landscape, through the monthly
observation of the di erences in the appearance and development of the vegetationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
