The World’s Most Sustainable Cities
Sustainability and renewable energy are thriving all around the world, not just in the United States. In fact, a recent study about sustainable cities around the world found that the U.S. has a lot of room for improvement if it wants to rank in the top tier of global sustainable cities.
Overall top 10 sustainable cities
- Frankfurt
- London
- Copenhagen
- Amsterdam
- Rotterdam
- Berlin
- Seoul
- Hong Kong
- Madrid
- Singapore
In review, European cities appear to be the winners of this study, accounting for seven out of the top 10. Asian cities round out the other three spots in the top 10. According to the study, each continent’s cities appear to have their own distinct “flavors” when it comes to the results of the study:
- Europe: European cities lead the world in the sustainability category.
- North America: North American cities fare best on profit factors because of their relatively high income per capita and ease of doing business, even though no North American cities cracked the top 10.
- Asia: Asian cities show the most divergence, with three cities in the top 10 and four in the bottom 10.
- South America: South American cities performed especially poorly in the people and profit categories.
- Middle East: Middle Eastern cities score better in the profit category than planet category.
What do the findings of this study mean for the renewable energy industry in the U.S.? At the very least, it means that there is room for improvement. The first American city on the list was Boston at number 15. There are also a few more cities in the overall top 50 (Chicago at 19, NYC at 20, Houston at 21, Philadelphia at 22, Washington, D.C. at 25, San Francisco at 27, LA at 28, Dallas at 29). This study shows that the U.S. is well on its way to becoming a powerful name in the global renewable energy industry, but there is still room for improvement and development.
This list was compiled by the London-based Center for Economics and Business Research, and it bases its ranking on how cities fare in three critical areas: social (people), environmental (planet), and economics (profit).
“Our world is changing at a faster pace than ever before,” says John Batten, global cities director of the consultancy firm ARCADIS, which funded the index. “Developing technology, population growth, and the emergence of a truly global economy mean that the notion of national borders is becoming less relevant. Instead, we see the concept of the ‘global city’ taking hold.”
National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge is an ambitious project designed to educate the world about the current state of energy. This project is made possible by a partnership between National Geographic and Shell.
