Bradford named UK's greenest
Saturday, 20 Oct 2007 19:22
Bradford played an important role in the Industrial Revolution
Bradford has been named as Britain's greenest city in a new survey.
In spite of its famed industrial past, the Yorkshire city was ranked highest among the UK's 20 largest cities in terms of environmental impact, as part of the Sustainable Cities Index.
A new £70 million sustainable waster treatment programme has dispelled the common perception that Bradford's waters had been irrevocably polluted by its heavy textile production during the Industrial Revolution.
The index, published by charity Forum for the Future, also ranked cities in terms of quality of life and progress towards a sustainable future, with Brighton and Hove finishing top of both UK league tables.
With a heavy commitment to recycling, high life expectancy, low unemployment and a large amount of green space available, Brighton and Hove was judged to be the best place to live overall.
Wolverhampton was named the UK's least green city, while London was ranked tenth in terms of overall sustainability.
Forum for the Future chief executive Peter Madden said the charity plans to publish the Sustainable Cities Index annually.
"We are now a majority urban world," he explained, "and this trend will intensify so we have to learn to live in cities in a more sustainable way. UK cities make claims about being green and eco-friendly without any real objective criteria to back it up.
"Our index will provide a base line and create healthy competition between cities to encourage sustainable urbanisation."