London, Glasgow and Edinburgh feature on top sustainable cities list
Manchester and Leeds also represented the UK in the top 100 Sustainable Cities Index
The Norwegian city of Oslo has been named the most sustainable city in the world with London the best performing UK city ranking 6th, according to a new report published by global design, engineering and management consulting company Arcadis.
The index scored cities by examining each’s success in environmental sustainability, quality of life for residents and how the businesses of each city approached sustainability, including commitments to achieving net-zero emissions. Arcadis classed these criteria under the three pillars of ‘Planet’, ‘People’ and ‘Profit’.
“Since our last SCI, published in 2018, the pressure on cities has grown exponentially and our relationship with them has changed,” said John Batten, Global Cities Director at Arcadis.
“Cities were on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hubs around the world suffering enormous social and financial fallout as businesses were forced to close, public services were pushed to their limits and unemployment rose.
“The sense of urgency around climate change has also spiked dramatically over the past several years.
“Though the pandemic may have temporarily stunted growth for many cities, it has presented the opportunity for a ‘Great Reset’, towards greener, healthier, more inclusive centers.”
Although London was the overall highest scoring city in the UK, it fell behind Glasgow in terms of quality of life, with the Scottish city ranking first in the ‘People’ pillar. When considering the ‘People’ score, Arcadis examined “the fundamental levels of crime, education, healthcare, and transport alongside key employment factors, such as income equality, and work-life balance.”
London scored well on the ‘Plant’ pillar which is connected to "how a city embraces nature and cares for its immediate environment" and examined issues such as sustainable transport and waste disposal procedures. London placed 23rd in the ‘Profit’ pillar of the report which takes into account economic performance with measures including GDP performance and the value of companies with headquarters in the city.
Top 10 most sustainable cities
- Oslo
- Stockholm
- Tokyo
- Copenhagen
- Berlin
- London
- Seattle
- Paris
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam
The Scottish capital Edinburgh missed out on a spot in the top 10, ranking 16th, with the other two UK cities on the list Manchester and Leeds ranking 32nd and 34th respectively.
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