Engineering Sustainable Cities
And what the top green cities in the world can teach us
- Cities ranking highly in the Sustainable Cities Index 2022 tend to have a shared focus on Planet, People, and Profit, in that order of priority.
- The top 5 ranked Sustainable Cities in the index were Oslo, Stockholm, Tokyo, Copenhagen and Berlin.
- To secure prosperity in the future, cities that are economically successful, but are not environmentally conscious and people-centric, need to make smart, specific investments in social policy and environmental strategy to score high on the index.
- An insight from the review is that US cities scored top of the list for Profit, but lagged behind the leading Scananavian countries when it came to Planet and People. Swinging the list in favour of Northern Europe.
It seems like sustainability has been one of the top buzzwords of the last decade. It encompasses all things regarding human life on earth and how we can maintain the best path forward. One important piece of research that studies sustainability around the globe is the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index. It examines urban sustainability through the lens of prosperity and builds on the initial index established 7 years ago. This year, the 2022 report examines 100 cities from 47 countries and incorporates new indicators to provide a complete measure of urban sustainability. Achieving true sustainability, according to Arcadis, requires cities to find a balance between three components:
- Planet (environmental)
- People (social)
- Profit (economic)
The Planet Pillar
The planet or environmental pillar in the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index (SCI) is not only the first but the most crucial. Environmental sustainability is the foundation on which people’s lives and business profits are created. If we don't work to protect the environment, the prosperity of communities, businesses, or entire markets simply will not succeed.
The People Pillar
People are the veins and lifeblood of a city, and the more metropolises can support the energy, creativity, and innovation of their people, the more they will prosper. To release the full potential of its citizens, a city must be considerate, inclusive, and safe, while also supporting and nurturing skills and providing opportunities to the entire population.
Profit Pillar
A little while back, prosperity was once synonymous with profit. It was often used to show the economic vibrancy of a city or market. That definition has now evolved with the times we are living in, but that does not mean that profit is not still involved in the prosperity of a city. Without strong, sustainable businesses and an abundance of jobs linked to a net-zero-aligned future economy, the prosperity of a city may not maintain.
The United Nations defines a ‘prosperous’ city as “one that is productive, provides adequate infrastructure, has a good quality of life, offers equity and social inclusion, and is practicing environmental sustainability”.
So who is ranking at the top of the charts in this year's index?
The top five spots of the overall Index are occupied by mostly northern European capitals plus Tokyo, which comes in at number three and is the only Asian city in the overall top 25. Tokyo ranks in the top ten for both People and Planet, coming in seventh for both. Of the 25 Asian cities included, only four others ranked in the top half: Seoul (26), Singapore (35), Chinese Taipei (46), and Macao (50).
Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Berlin made the top five because of their ability to hit all three components of a sustainable city. The people who live there are able to work and play in a city that considers the needs of the environment while also stimulating economic growth. As you can see, the rest of the world has a lot they can learn from European cities across the continent.
American cities are always the strongest performers in the Profit pillar when it comes to actual profitability, yet many of these cities do not perform well under a Planet or People-centric lens. The US is more often than not left out of the SCI overall top five. Many economically strong cities neglect environmental and social factors. For cities to thrive today and into the future, a focus on prosperity beyond profit is needed. An economy can’t thrive without its people and people cannot thrive without a livable natural environment to socialize, work, and simply exist.
Environmental sustainability is a firmly established strength among European cities — Scandinavia in particular — that are leading the way in this most fundamental measure of future prosperity. Three key Scandinavian capitals — Oslo (1) Stockholm (3) and Copenhagen (4) are all featured in the top five for this pillar.
When it comes to people, Europe is the clear leader, with 15 of the top 20 cities located in Western Europe. Cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Rotterdam, and Glasgow all offer their citizens relatively healthy, safe, and well-connected environments, in which income inequality is typically low and job quality is high. A city is not truly sustainable if some of its citizens are being priced out. As costs of living are on the rise, essential workers — such as those in the emergency services or education sector — could find that their pay is not keeping up with the pace. This would only lead to increased inequality as people would move out of their city in search of a cheaper cost of living. Focusing on the key metric of affordability, we see many of the most people-centric cities, such as Zurich, San Francisco, and New York, struggle, whereas cities in South and East Asia, South America, and North Africa doing well.
American cities are always the strongest performers in the Profit pillar when it comes to actual profitability, yet many of these cities do not perform well under a Planet or People-centric lens. The US is more often than not left out of the SCI overall top five. Many economically strong cities neglect environmental and social factors. For cities to thrive today and into the future, a focus on prosperity beyond profit is needed. An economy can’t thrive without its people and people cannot thrive without a livable natural environment to socialize, work, and simply exist.
This study is meant to show the stark contrast between cities that prioritize people, the planet, and profit and if the results are shocking, that’s a good thing. Every person part of the global community needs to understand that we are all in this together. There is only one home and that's planet earth. Luckily, with research like the Arcadis SCI, cities falling short can learn from thriving ones. People can learn to adjust and transform the way they live in order to benefit the greater good.
As a community of builders and thinkers, it is up to us to focus on a sustainable future. Civil engineering is quite literally the foundation upon which we build everything in our society. It starts with sustainable design practices which lead to sustainable construction practices which in turn benefit the planet, the people, and the profitability of a city. We at civils.ai are committed to working toward a sustainable future for generations to come.
