Newcastle has beaten cities with a greener reputation to claim the top spot in the 2009 league table of Britain’s most sustainable cities, released by sustainable development organisation Forum for the Future.
It pushes previous winners Bristol and Brighton into second and third place, with good performance in all areas. Newcastle tops the environmental table, and comes fourth for both quality of life and future-proofing.
The Forum’s third annual Sustainable Cities Index tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities, ranking them on environmental performance, quality of life and future-proofing, which looks at issues like how well cities are addressing climate change and how dynamic their economy is.