Britain’s Greenest & Most Eco-Friendly Cities

With a reputation for being dirty, smoggy, and overcrowded, city centres are rarely hailed for their eco credentials.

However, a new study has picked out the greenest city centres in the UK.

Looking at 68 city centres, researchers from the University of Sheffield considered factors such as the amount of tree cover, vegetation, and presence of parks, and they noticed a clear north-south divide.

City centres with the greenest attributes were all located in the South of England, whilst the lowest-scoring cities were all ex-industrial areas in the northern half of the UK.

The study also uncovered a statistical link between a lower greenness score and higher levels of deprivation. It is hoped that the results will help inform efforts by local authorities to boost the greenness of urban centres and reduce the disparity between those in the North and the South.

The Uk’s Greenest (And Least Green) City Centres:

Rank	Greenest	Least Green
1	Exeter	Glasgow
2	Islington	Middlesbrough
3	Bristol	Sheffield
4	Bournemouth	Liverpool
5	Cambridge	Leeds

Source: University of Sheffield

 

Which UK cities use the most power?

Measuring green space is just one way of crowning Britain’s greenest city centres, but which cities are the most efficient when it comes to how much energy they use?

Leicester leads the charge in that category, according to UK Government figures, with the East Midlands city consuming the least amount of fossil fuels of any UK city.

The top five were completed by Coventry, Bristol, Manchester and London, with each city recording the same gas and electricity consumption of 0.05 ktoe (kilotonnes of oil equivalent) per person on average.

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Rank	City	Gas and electricity consumption (ktoe)	Gas and electricity consumption (ktoe) per capita
1	Leicester	190	0.05
2	Coventry	195.4	0.05
3	Bristol	255	0.05
4	Manchester	275.7	0.05
5	London	4800	0.05
6	Liverpool	288.2	0.06
7	Sheffield	347	0.06
8	Leeds	514.6	0.06
9	Birmingham	652.9	0.06
10	Bradford	353.9	0.07

Source: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

 

Which UK City Has the Cleanest Air Quality?

So, what about air quality? Yet again, Bristol is up there, reporting the strongest air quality score out of any other UK city.

The IQAir Index factors in vehicle emissions, fuel usage and manufacturing by-products to come with a number between 1 and 100, and the lower the score, the better.

Bristol hit an impressive score of 2, thanks to the city’s carbon-neutral scooters and launching a Clean Air Zone in November 2022.

There was a three-way tie with Sheffield, London and Leicester recording a 13 IQ Index Rating.

Rank	City	IQ Index Rating
1	Bristol	2
2	Manchester	3
3=	Sheffield	13
3=	London	13
3=	Leicester	13
4	Liverpool	17
5	Leeds	20
6	Birmingham	21
7	Coventry	25
8	Bradford	28

Source: IQ Air

Banner photo: Benjamin Davies/Unsplash