Sustainable Cities UK Index 2010

Forum for the Future’s fourth annual Sustainable Cities Index tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities, ranking them on environmental performance, quality of life and future-proofing, which looks at issues like how well cities are addressing climate change and how dynamic their economy is.

Highlights

Newcastle, which was eighth in 2007, has extended its lead over a tight cluster of four rivals. It has placed itself at the centre of an increasingly vibrant clean tech cluster in the North East and aims to become a world class centre of science and innovation, benefiting economically and socially from the green economy. It aspires to become the UK’s “electric car capital” and has started installing 580 charging points in the region.

Leicester, in 14th place four years ago, is second and leads on environmental performance. It has the lowest ecological footprint, produces the least household waste and is best at managing its biodiversity. It has a strong climate change plan, a high recycling rate and an emerging new business sector pursuing opportunities in sustainability and environmental management.

Brighton, third, scores well for quality of life and future-proofing, with a healthy, highly skilled population and a vibrant economy, but high-consumption lifestyles give it the worst ecological footprint of any city.

Bristol falls to fourth place but retains the top spot in the quality of life basket, with a low unemployment rate, highly skilled and qualified residents, and improving school standards.

London is fifth and comes top on future-proofing with strong new plans to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change and the highest level of business start-ups. It has the longest life expectancy, but by far the worst air quality and one of the largest ecological footprints.

Leeds remains sixth with good progress on recycling. It’s followed by this year’s two biggest climbers, both up four places. Coventry is seventh overall with the third best environmental performance. It has risen 10 places since 2007 showing good progress on a number of indicators. Plymouth, in eighth place, ranks third for quality of life with the second highest life expectancy and an excellent improvement in education.

Edinburgh, ninth, is best for employment and ranks second on education. Sheffield, 10th, has seen improvements in bus and tram services. Cardiff, 11th, scores well on future-proofing and has made notable improvements in recycling.

Nottingham is the biggest faller, dropping four places to 12th. As with many cities it contends with significant inequalities in health and wealth. However, life expectancy is improving, with reductions in levels of cancer and heart disease.

Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham take the next three places followed by Sunderland, Derby and Bradford. Glasgow remains in 19th place despite some tangible environmental improvements, such as reducing waste and its ecological footprint.

Hull remains bottom for the third year in a row. It comes last on employment and near the bottom for business start-ups. Although more than 20,000 citizens were affected by floods in 2007, it still needs to make plans for adapting to climate change.

The report and factsheets are available to the public on this page www.forumforthefuture.org/projects/sustainable-cities10

Overall city rankings - click on city for factsheet

2010 rank - (2009) - [2008] - {2007}


 * 1) Newcastle -(1)---[4]--{8}
 * 2) Leicester---(4)---[8]-{14}
 * 3) Brighton(3)---[2]--{1}
 * 4) Bristol---(2)---[1]--{3}
 * 5) London-(5)---[9]-{10}
 * 6) Leeds---(6)--[13]--{5}
 * 7) Coventry--(11)-[14]-{17}
 * 8) Plymouth--(12)--[3]--{4}
 * 9) Edinburgh--(7)---[6]--{2}
 * 10) Sheffield(9)---[7]--{7}
 * 11) Cardiff-(10)---[5]--{6}
 * 12) Nottingham(8)--[10=]---{11}
 * 13) Manchester---(14)-[15]-{12}
 * 14) Liverpool--(15)-[17]--{20}
 * 15) Birmingham--(17)[19]--{19}
 * 16) Sunderland---(13)-[12]--{13}
 * 17) Derby – First year in index
 * 18) Bradford--(16)-[10=]-{9}
 * 19) Glasgow--(19)-[18]--{15}
 * 20) Hull(20)-[20]--{18}