Manchester has been placed 14th in the world ranking of Sustainable fifty cities which put London second behind the winner Frankfurt.
The first ever Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index, which is compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, assessed fifty global cities according to the three demands of People, Planet and Profit, evaluating how well each location caters to its population socially, environmentally and economically.
Manchester, along with London and Birmingham, appeared in the list and was described as a mature city that can’t rely on historic investment to maintain their competitive advantage.
Frankfurt leads the ranking, thanks to its climate protection initiatives and large city forest, while Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam make up the top five .
Roughly half of Frankfurt’s surface area is “green”, according to the city’s environment department, which notes that 52 percent of the city area has been set aside for recreation and to offset climate change. It consists of parks, woodland, farmland, orchard meadows, grassland, allotments and hobby gardens, cemeteries, roadside grass verges and bodies of water.
Keith Brooks, UK cities director at Arcadis said: “It is pleasing and, perhaps, surprising to see UK cities placing so highly in the index. As we can see from the findings, there’s no such thing as a utopian city. It’s more a difficult balancing act between the three pillars, people, planet and profit, that reflect true sustainability.
