Workers, homebuyers and, increasingly, investors are focusing in on environmental credentials when it comes to making big decisions. Decisions about where to work, where to set up home and where to put their money.
The UK’s cities will all play a vital role in making sure that the country is able to achieve its net zero carbon goal by 2050. All of the country’s largest cities have pledged to get to net zero by at least 2040 and have been working on how to get there for several years now.
But how else do our cities measure up? Last year EG put together its first Sustainable Cities Index, a range of measurements for the UK’s 12 biggest regional cities to see which offer the “greenest” locations and which were working hardest to be sustainable.
Based on EG’s criteria, Bristol came out top in 2020 and does so again in 2021, followed by Southampton with Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle in joint third.
EG’s analysis this year took in a few new criteria, including the level of biodiversity within 10km of each city centre and the propensity of its population to cycle regularly. Some figures were unavailable for a number of cities, including EPC data for our two Scottish cities – Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Bristol
Bristol scores top on five out of EG’s 16 sustainability criteria and was only one of two of the UK’s 12 biggest cities to make it on to the CDP’s Cities A list 2020. Only cities that are leading the change on climate mitigation make the global list. This year, just Bristol and Newcastle made the cut. London and Bournemouth (which are not included in EG’s Sustainable Cities Index) were the only other UK places to make it on to the 88-strong list.
Bristol was the first of the 12 cities to declare a climate emergency and has set itself the ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon by 2028. With just over six years to go, whether this ambition will be achieved is up for discussion, but a look across EG’s criteria shows that the city is well placed to fulfil a number of environmental objectives.
And its residents have bought into the cause. It is the most active among the 12 cities, with 45.5% of its population cycling or walking more than five times a week, and it leads the 12 when it comes to recycling. Some 47% of waste is recycled in the city.
Bristol is also the most biodiverse of the 12 cities, with more than 10,000 different species (plant and animal) found within 10km of the city centre.
It also scores well, but not the best, in terms of emissions and on the sustainability measure of the Centre for Thriving Places’ Thriving Places Index.
Southampton
Southampton has the highest proportion of net zero carbon buildings – as identified by EPC figures. Our analysis reveals that 0.07% of building stock across Southampton has an EPC rating of A+, equivalent to net zero carbon. The city also comes out on top when it comes to buildings with an EPC rating of B or above – the standard that all commercial buildings will be required to meet by 2030. Some 13.7% of the Hampshire city’s commercial stock has an EPC of B or better.
Despite being a port city, Southampton is leading when it comes to emissions at 2.9 tonnes per capita – an improvement of two percentage points since 2020’s index was compiled.
The city takes joint third when it comes to active citizens, with 38.8% cycling or walking at least five times a day. The Southampton population has one of the furthest distances to travel to get to green spaces among the 12 UK cities, however, with an average 349.6m to the nearest green space. Dwellers in Newcastle, top rated for both percentage of homes with access to green space and distance to it, only have to travel 264m to get a fix of nature.
Southampton is aiming to achieve net zero carbon by 2030.
Glasgow
If you want to take a big deep breath, Glasgow is the city for you. In a time when the quality of the air we breathe and access to clean air has never been more important, Glasgow is coming up trumps. The Scottish city ranks well ahead of the country’s sister city, Edinburgh, with a fine particulate measure of 4.9. This is a dramatic improvement on 2020’s index, when it also led the league table with a score of 6.4 (matching Edinburgh). Edinburgh has also seen an improvement this year to 5.7, but only enough to make it equal third in our clear air ranking, sharing the spot with Cardiff and behind Newcastle in second place (5.1).
Also working in Glasgow’s favour is its projected population growth, which is the smallest of all 12 cities at just 1.4%, meaning demand on the city for resources will be lesser than the other UK cities.
Manchester
A thriving city with more BREEAM Excellent office buildings than any of its compatriots and a populace that enjoys regular exercise and recycling, Manchester comes out strongly in the EG Sustainable Cities Index. It is the only city to score above a six for sustainability in the Thriving Places Index, with nearest rival Bristol only managing 5.57. Thriving Places determines its score on a city’s energy usage, waste and green infrastructure, with higher scores indicating better sustainability relative to the rest of the country.
Manchester also boasts an impressive 19 BREEAM Excellent offices, according to the latest figures available from the BRE Group. That is almost double that of the joint second-placed cities, Nottingham and Cardiff.
As the home of the National Cycle Centre and perfectly located for wanders out to the Peak District, it is no surprise that Mancunians also like to keep active, with 39% of them cycling or walking at least five times a week.
They are keen on keeping waste to a minimum too, with a recycling rate of 40.6%, putting the city second behind Bristol.
Newcastle
The last of our top-performing cities, Newcastle, famous for its industrial heritage, is showing of its green credentials – quite literally. The city tops the ranks for households with access to open space and the shortest distance that any city dweller would have to travel to find a little green in an area best known for grey industrial and brown ale.
The city also performs well when it comes to recycling (40.2%), air quality (5.1) and physical activity (38.8% of Newcastle dwellers cycle or walk five times or more each week).
And, for electric vehicle drivers, the city is second best (behind Nottingham) when it comes to access to chargers, with 41.1 EV chargers per 100,000 people. Nottingham takes first place with 43.9 chargers per 100,000 people.
With a net zero carbon target of 2030, Newcastle certainly seems serious about turning its industrial revolution green.
The others
While every UK city is trying to do its bit in the fight against climate change, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Sheffield all failed to come out on top on any of the criteria for EG’s index this year.
In 2020, Cardiffians were champion recyclers; this year they were at the bottom of the pile. Last year, Edinburgh led the way with Glasgow on air quality; this year it has slipped to joint third with Cardiff.
Sheffield and Birmingham languished towards the bottom of the index in 2020 and don’t seem to have been able to move the dial significantly during the past 12 to 18 months. Both have big plans in place. Birmingham’s Future City Plan seeks to re-green the city, while Sheffield is on a mission to become known as the UK’s outdoor city.
The clock is ticking, with less than two decades for each of the UK’s 12 big cities to deliver on their promises. The time for plans is over. The time for action is now.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
