Looking back at… Cities

We kicked off our Sustainability in the City series with the holder of the European Green Capital award for 2015 – Bristol, UK – and continued to look at cities around the world taking steps to provide sustainable urban areas.

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1. Bristol, UK – The European Green Capital for 2015, Bristol has ambitious plans for energy and sustainable transport investment. It has allocated a budget of £500 million for transport improvements by 2015 and up to £300 million for energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2020. Read more.

2. Copenhagen, Denmark – elected as 2014’s winner of the European Green Capital award, it has been lauded as an example in municipal sustainability. It is perhaps most famous for being one of the most bicycle-friendly centres in the world. Read more.

3. Reykjavik, Iceland – Reykjavik has set itself the admirable target of being entirely free of fossil fuels by 2050. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, it is already one of the greenest cities in the world. Read more.

4. Bogotá, Colombia – As recently as the 1990s Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, was associated more with violence, drug wars and murder than sustainability. Its journey towards redemption gathered momentum in 1998, with the appointment of Enrique Peñalosa as mayor. Read more.

5. Hamburg, Germany – It is one of Europe’s most affluent metropolises and is often recognised as one of the more desirable places to live in rankings, having been rated 17th globally by Mercer in 2012 and eighth by Numbeo. It also held the title of the European Green Capital in 2011. Read more.

6. Nantes, France – The city also became the first European city to host the ECOCITY World Summit, hosting a meal for 5,000 people using only food products that would otherwise have been discarded to draw attention to the issue of waste. Read more.

7. Stockholm, Sweden – The first city to be awarded the European Green Capital title when the award was launched in 2010. It received this honour in no small part thanks to its grand vision of being a fossil fuel-free city by 2050. Read more.

8. Vancouver, Canada – Vancouver is a green city visionary. Its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan hopes to show that a city’s efforts to grow and prosper can go hand in hand with the addressing of climate change. Read more.

9. Malmö, Sweden – Much like the capital Stockholm, Malmö has endeavoured to become an environmental leader as part of Sweden’s impressive bid to become the world’s most sustainable country. Read more.

10. Mexico City, Mexico – Mexico City is perhaps not an obvious choice for recognition as a sustainable city. However, the Mexican capital – identified as the most polluted city on the planet in 1992 – has recently been praised for its efforts to clear the air. Read more.

11. London, UK – Taking a wide-angle view of sustainability, the IESE Cities in Motion Index considers 10 key dimensions that define a city and London ranks second for its performance in these areas. Read more.

Photo: darr via Freeimages