Frankfurt is 'world's most sustainable city'

The German city of Frankfurt, a financial hub with a strong green ethos, has been crowned the world’s most sustainable city. The global consultancy Arcadis’ Sustainable Cities Index, ranked 50 of the world’s most prominent cities by looking at their environmental progress, viability as a place to live in, and financial stability.

“Frankfurt’s high ranking in the Sustainable Cities Index may come as a surprise. However, the self-proclaimed ‘Green City Frankfurt’ has a long track record of proactively taking action to improve its sustainability,” Arcadis said.

The index takes into account 20 different indicators, ranging from green space and income inequality, to ease of doing business. Arcadis defines a sustainable city as one that “works well for their citizens in the present without causing problems for themselves and the rest of the world in the future.”

Roughly half of Frankfurt’s surface area is green, according to the city’s environment department, which notes that 52 per cent of the city area has been set aside for recreation and to offset climate change. It consists of parks, woodland, farmland, orchard meadows, grassland, hobby gardens, roadside grass verges and bodies of water. Frankfurt is also a founding member of the Climate Alliance of European Cities, pledging to continuously reduce its carbon emissions by 10 per cent every year, resulting in a 50 per cent cut by 2030.

European cities dominated the top ten in the sustainability index, with London and Copenhagen following in second and third place, respectively, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the fourth and fifth spot. Rounding out the top ten were Berlin, Seoul, Hong Kong, Madrid and Singapore, in sixth to tenth place, respectively. Interestingly, some of the fastest growing cities in Asia were the least sustainable, including Jakarta (45), Manila (46), Mumbai (47), Wuhan (48) and New Delhi (49).