How new study scores Leeds for sustainability

Like elsewhere in the UK, the sustainability of Leeds’s transport infrastructure requires investment, as it lacks Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure and has limited bicycle-friendly infrastructure.

Overall, Leeds has been ranked as 34th out of 100 of the world’s leading cities in the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index 2022 (SCI) list, on a par with Manchester and Birmingham in the ratings. It ranks highest of the three cities when it comes to its ‘planet’ score but the results show there are plenty of areas where it needs new investment.

The SCI table examines cities across three pillars of sustainability: planet, people and profit. Though all three factors are weighted equally, the data shows that putting the planet and people first is a more reliable road to prosperity than putting profit first, as long as there is some profit to finance progress.

From a commercial perspective, Leeds has come top as the highest ranking English city for its commercial transport infrastructure – measured in terms of

ecommerce use, ride hailing and congestion. Though that is, in part, because other UK cities are more congested – meaning that road infrastructure still needs investment.

Leeds isn’t as well connected as London, Manchester or the Scottish cities and rates on an international par with Riga and Bogota, for its connectivity.

Lowest score for air quality and green spaces

Leeds has the lowest score among English cities for its polluting greenhouse gas emissions per person, as well as coming bottom of all UK cities for access to green spaces and air quality.

However, internationally, all UK cities are performing well and Leeds ranks on a par with Oslo and Zurich, even though it has far less green space than either.

Arcadis Northern Cities Director Richard Bonner said: “The overall data suggests that our Northern UK cities are held back by their performance from the profit pillar, indicating that prosperity for people is being constrained.

“That certainly appears to resonate with the drivers for levelling up, and recent National Audit Office data indicates that the economic performance of cities across the North has been constrained in the period after the pandemic.”

Way forward for Yorkshire

To help Leeds and Yorkshire prepare for the future, Arcadis is working on several key schemes including:

Supporting the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) major investment in 76 miles of railway between York and Manchester, via Leeds and Huddersfield, to shift from cars to rail.

Updating the grid network in the North East to facilitate investment in hydrogen and decarbonise industry. The plans support carbon capture and storage at North Yorkshire’s Drax power station, to permanently remove 8 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

Working with the University of Leeds to work towards its carbon zero targets for 2030.

Find out more

To find out more about the sustainability performances of 100 of the world’s cities download the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index 2022 here.