The latest Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index has placed Zurich in the number one position for urban sustainability with four Australian cities ranked between 18 and 32 on the list.
The index was compiled for Arcadis by the Centre for Economic and Business Research and explores three pillars of sustainability – social (people), environmental (planet) and economic (profit) to develop an indicative ranking of 100 of the world’s leading cities.
Arcadis Global Cities Director John Batten said cities have unique identities that are heavily influenced by their cityscape, economy and culture.
"Some cities, particularly established European cities such as Zurich which tops our index, are positioned within a moderate climate and have an economically balanced population which gives them a clear advantage when it comes to their sustainability," said Batten.
"Others have to deal with issues including extreme climates, rapid urbanisation and lack of financial resources which can hold them back. However, as our index shows, all have their urban challenges and none of the cities can claim to have earned the title of being a completely sustainable city. For city authorities grappling with their own issues, the opportunity to compare their sustainability with similar cities which are often outside their own countries is an appealing one.”
Eight of the top ten cities were from Europe with the other two from Asia: Singapore (2) and Seoul (7).
Zurich and Stockholm led the planet rankings with the only two non-European cities in the top ten being Wellington (6) and Sydney (8).
Seoul led the people rankings ahead of Rotterdam and Hamburg while Singapore and Hong Kong led the profit rankings.
Canberra was the leading Australian city in 18th spot with Sydney (21), Brisbane (30) and Melbourne (32) also ranked highly.
Canberra scored high marks across all three areas, ranking 17th for people, 20th for profit and 25th for planet. While Sydney did particularly well in the planet rankings it did less well in the other two whereas Brisbane and Melbourne did less well on the planet rankings but both finished ahead of Sydney for people and profit.
“Many cities around the world are not effectively balancing these three pillars of sustainability in their communities," said Batten.
"This split story is dragging down the sustainability of individual cities across the world. As our report shows, the challenge of putting people at the heart of a city’s sustainability goals is one that many have yet to rise up to meet.”
[Photo of Zurich: FreeImages.com/Pier Brasiu]
Infrastructure will be a major topic of discussion at the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25.
Top Ten Cities
1. Zurich
2. Singapore
3. Stockholm
4. Vienna
5. London
6. Frankfurt
7. Seoul
8. Hamburg
9. Prague
10. Munich