Issuing its latest Sustainable Cities Index (SCI) 2024, design and engineering consultancy Arcadis said its findings revealed the need for accelerated action in tackling climate change and other urban sustainability challenges.

The new report reveals some clear differences between leading sustainable cities such as Amsterdam (1st), Copenhagen (3rd) and Munich (5th), and those trailing behind, including the likes of US cities New York (48th) and Boston (56th), and Asian municipalities like Taipei (62nd). Notably, all four German cities included in the index – Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin – claim spots in the top ten, buoyed by achievements in water sanitation and waste management, and low greenhouse gas emissions.

The Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index (SCI) ranks 100 global cities across three pillars of sustainability – planet, people, and profit. It comprises 67 metrics to provide a comprehensive assessment of urban sustainability, with key data points including air pollution, waste management, and investment in low-carbon infrastructure, as well as factors such as economic performance, social equity, and resilience to natural disasters.

This year, for the first time, Arcadis has added a fourth pillar, ‘Progress’, to the index. This measures the degree of change over time to demonstrate the impact of sustainability interventions made over the past decade. When considered alongside the other pillars, it provides insights into a city’s future trajectory and emphasises the importance of continuous advancement to achieve the SDGs.

High performance in the ‘Planet’ pillar is associated with overall success, as evidenced by nine of the top-ten cities in this field also securing positions in the overall top ten. The ‘Planet’ pillar comprises metrics such as sustainable energy systems and low-emission transport, suggesting these are powerful tools for urban sustainability and should be key focal points for cities looking to effect meaningful change.

Business success and environmental focus

This year’s index also underlines that high performance on the ‘Profit’ metric is not incompatible with success in environmental sustainability. Indeed, the report emphasises how a thriving economy should support investment in infrastructure, alternative energy sources, green initiatives, and social programmes. Amsterdam, the most sustainable city of 2024, ranks at the top of the ‘Profit’ pillar, where it excels in income and living standards, employment, and transport infrastructure.

North American cities dominate the ‘Profit’ pillar, with San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Seattle all appearing in this field’s top ten, owing to the ease of doing business, GDP per capita, and employment rates. However, their overall rankings show how wage levels and living standards are failing to keep pace with economic growth. To move higher up, inclusive development strategies will be critical, argues the report, which emphasises that North American and European cities must draw inspiration from each other to continue making sustainable progress across all pillars.

Sustainability progress

When it comes to progress over the last decade, many European cities have continued to make significant strides – despite their highly sustainable starting points – to cement their position at the top of the ranking. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin have all sustained momentum to feature in the top third of the ‘Progress’ pillar and the top third of the index overall. This can be attributed to – especially, in the case of Amsterdam – a commitment to renewable energy production, as well as socio-economic factors such as female labour force participation, and healthcare.

Although appearing low in the overall rankings, Asian cities such as Jakarta, Wuhan, and Shanghai sit at the top of the ‘Progress’ pillar. This indicates that demonstrate that in cities with limited prior sustainable infrastructure or practices, early steps towards urban sustainability can have an enormous impact in generating momentum for further advancements.

“Cities play a critical role in advancing the sustainable development agenda,” said John Batten, Arcadis global cities director. “However, our progress assessment shows that a lot more needs to be done to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

With just 2000 days to go, the challenge is to keep pushing the boundaries of innovation. Whether that’s by scaling up renewable energy initiatives, integrating climate considerations into infrastructure planning, improving mobility through intelligent traffic management, or supporting the retrofit of existing buildings through planning and investment, there are always areas to improve on.

“As the 2030 deadline approaches, cities must build on their successes, identify areas for progress, and foster collaboration to address challenges with ever greater urgency and determination.”

The full report can be downloaded here.