Trying to determine what makes a city sustainable is a task fraught with complexity. Some cities offer plenty of green space but have poorly funded public transport networks, others have comprehensive recycling programmes but too few cycling lanes.
Many recent studies that have attempted to pin down what makes cities sustainable tend to focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which are important for setting global standards and objectives, but can be a blunt instrument for determining the success or failure of individual cities.
Arcadis – a global design, engineering and management consulting company – has, since 2015, been refining an index of its own. The Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index measures 100 cities according to 51 metrics across 26 themes, arrayed under the three pillars of sustainability: Planet (environmental), People (social), and Profit (economic).
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The index offers fascinating insights, some more surprising than others. Scandinavian cities are predictably well represented at the very top of the list, but British and Irish cities also perform very strongly. London clocks in at number six.
How the ranking works
Arcadis’s report takes a holistic view of sustainability in a bid to highlight the evolving challenges facing cities, including the climate emergency, the cost-of-living crisis together with long term challenges associated with the quality and availability of healthcare and education.
The three pillars of Arcadis’s ranking system contribute to each city’s overall position in the list. The Planet pillar aims to capture environmental factors like energy usage and emissions, the People pillar measures social performance, including quality of life, and finally the Profit pillar assesses each city’s business environment.
For too long cities have been ranked according to purely financial metrics, says Peter Hogg, Arcadis’s UK Cities Director, meaning too little attention is paid to the other factors that make cities successful.
“Often, cities have a laser focus on attracting businesses, investors and skills to feed the Profit pillar,” Hogg says. “There should be as much fanfare when it comes to creating affordable housing, building net-zero infrastructure and transport, and reducing air pollution.”
So who comes out on top?
The Norwegian city of Oslo tops the list overall, ranking first in Planet, 17th in People and 39th in Profit. The most sustainable city in the overall index is also the top city when it comes to supporting its natural environment.
Interestingly, the top five spots of the overall index are occupied by a collection of northern European capitals plus Tokyo, which comes in at number three and is the only Asian city in the overall top 25.
US cities are undoubtedly the strongest performers in the Profit pillar, yet many do not rank well in either the Planet or People categories, denting their overall performance.
How does the UK perform?
Cities in the UK and Ireland do very well, with London ranking in sixth position overall. The capital’s main strengths include its transport network, climate policy, health and work-life balance.
Coming in at the very top of the list in the People pillar, and 13th place in the overall ranking, Glasgow is another strong performer, due to its healthy environments and relatively low income inequality, as well as high-quality jobs.
Another Scottish city, Edinburgh, also makes the top 20. The city performs particularly well in both the People and Planet categories. Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Dublin also rank in the overall top 40, with Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh all within the top 25 for Planet.
Why sustainable cities matter
More than half of the global population lives in a city and, by 2050, the urban proportion is expected to reach two-thirds.
Yet cities are also “fuelling some of our greatest challenges”, said the Arcadis report, not least the climate crisis. UN Habitat estimates that while cities only account for less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, they consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions.
How can cities prosper?
Historically, the definition of a prosperous city rested on its economic output and the personal wealth of its citizens. However, contemporary readings of what makes a city truly prosperous take into account the critical importance of environmental, social and personal factors as well.
The UN says a prosperous city is “one that is productive, provides adequate infrastructure, has a good quality of life, offers equity and social inclusion, and is practising environmental sustainability”. This aligns with the conclusions of Arcadis’s index, which demonstrates the intimate connection between planet, people and profit.
Arcadis’ report concludes that those cities which are performing well on profit but rank poorly in the overall index “need to commit to making robust investments in social policy and carbon transition in order to secure prosperity for their citizens”.
Most important among this is an effort to protect and preserve the environment. According to the report, the three pillars are all interconnected, but any improvements must necessarily begin with the natural world, because “there is no economy without society, and there is no society without a hospitable planet.”
Download your copy of the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index by visiting the Arcadis website to unlock the stories of sustainable cities.
You can also get in touch with an Arcadis expert for further information and advice in tackling the challenges your city or business faces.
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