Description:

Bristol has beaten Brighton to claim the top spot in a league table of Britain’s most sustainable cities, released today by sustainable development group Forum for the Future.

Brighton and Hove, last year’s winner, is rated highest for quality of life and future-proofing but came in second because of its comparative poor performance on the environment. Plymouth, in third place, has the best environmental performance. Newcastle jumped from eight to four, the only northern city in the top five.

The Forum’s second 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 – how well they are addressing issues such as climate change, recycling and biodiversity.

Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Forum for the Future's Sustainable Cities Index has driven real change by inspiring cities to adopt more ambitious sustainability strategies and by providing a framework against which they can benchmark their efforts."

Peter Madden, chief executive of the Forum, said: “Leaders with passion and drive, who put sustainability at the heart of their vision, can create thriving cities which offer their people a high quality of life, respect their environment, and have the resilience to cope with the changes climate change will bring.”

Bristol comes top overall, thanks in part to its impressive increase in recycling and composting rates - on which it moved up the rankings by 10 places - and its consistently high scores on water quality, waste collection and green spaces.

Brighton has moved up the environmental rankings since last year, but not enough to stop Bristol claiming its title. It is commended for its transport services, education provision, green spaces, climate change strategy and recycling rates.

Plymouth’s top ranking in the environmental table reflects water and air quality and the limited impact of its services, housing, transport and consumables on the environment, relative to other cities. It also scored well on employment, life-expectancy and recycling rates.

Newcastle’s future-proofing activities improved its ranking, with green businesses and recycling rates helping it move four places in the overall score.

But the report reveals that a clear North-South divide still exists. Southern cities tend to perform better in the quality of life indicators and all feature in the top 10, while the industrial heritage of the Midlands and North is reflected in lower life expectancy.

Edinburgh and Leeds, which both featured in the top five last year, have slipped further down the scale, dropping four and nine places respectively. Liverpool, Birmingham and Hull remain in the bottom three.

Not even the UK’s best-performing cities can match international leaders in sustainability like Stockholm, Portland in the US and Curitiba in Brazil, the report finds.

Peter Madden challenged city leaders to redouble their efforts: “I’d like to see some shining examples of what makes a truly sustainable city here on home-turf, so that we can not only inspire other UK cities to follow, but can also be the inspiration for cities around the world.”

Overall city rankings

2008 rank              City                 
(2007 rank)

1 (3)                     Bristol                   
2 (1)                     Brighton & Hove     
3 (4)                     Plymouth               
4 (8)                     Newcastle              
5 (6)                     Cardiff                   
6 (2)                     Edinburgh              
7 (7)                     Sheffield                
8 (14)                    Leicester               
9 (11)                    Nottingham           
10 (10)                  London                  
11 (9)                    Bradford                 
12 (17)                  Coventry                
13 (13)                  Sunderland           
14 (5)                    Leeds                    
15 (12)                  Manchester            
16 (16)                  Wolverhampton     
17 (15)                  Glasgow                 
18 (19)                  Birmingham           
19 (20)                  Liverpool                
20 (18)                  Hull                       

The index is based on 13 indicators in three areas: the environment, quality of life, and future-proofing. Examples of indicators include air quality and ecological footprint (environment); education and unemployment (quality of life); and local authority commitments to climate change (future-proofing).

A few changes have been made to the indicators since the 2007 report, in response to feedback from city councils to ensure they drive meaningful action and to ensure the index remains robust. Care has been taken to keep the indicator sets consistent so that the year-on-year comparison is meaningful.

If you would like to comment on this story please use the enquiry form below