The city bagged the greenest city title by scoring high points from its sustainability strategies in air quality, buildings and transportation as well as topping the waste category.
The index studied the top 20 United States combined statistical areas, and the top 5 Canadian census metropolitan areas. Miami and Phoenix were added by the panellists due to population and growth rates. Portland is not qualified in the index based on the ranking criteria, but was highlighted in the report.
Nine sustainable criteria
The cities’ environmental performance and policies on nine categories – carbon dioxide emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air quality and environmental governance – were considered in the rankings.
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New York and Seattle ranked second and third, respectively. New York earned high points from sustainability strategies in land use and transportation, while Seattle topped the buildings category. Denver and Boston follow, rounding up the top five.
Toronto was the only Canadian city to enter the top 10, placing ninth. Among all categories, the city made its best placing in the waste management category. Vancouver, although it did not make the top ten, placed first in the categories for carbon dioxide emissions and air quality.
«The Green Cities Index demonstrates that America’s cities are the driving force behind the nation’s sustainability efforts. Despite the fact that we do not have a federal climate policy in the United States — and no federal carbon standard — 21 of the 27 cities in the index have already set their own carbon reduction targets,» said Eric Spiegel, president and executive officer of Siemens Corporation.
The study shows that cities that performed best are those that have comprehensive sustainability plans encompassing every aspect of creating a greener future including transportation, land use, energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and water.
San Francisco
In the case of San Francisco, it has laid down a sustainability plan since 1996, covering areas as specific as the reduction of chlorofluorocarbon-based cooling and refrigeration and the diverting of waste.
The city targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The city’s environment department reports to have reduced over 29 megawatts of electricity use in 2009, as stated in the city’s environment strategic plan for 2010 to 2012.
«Generally speaking, American cities fared well as compared to other global regions in the areas of air and waste policies as well as recycling and water infrastructure,» said Tony Nash of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
San Francisco’s environmental performance affirms the observation, reporting to have reduced per capita waste generation by 50 percent in its latest sustainability scorecard. The city also has 85 percent of its households and 75 percent of its businesses and institutions participating in recycling programs.
Mayors taking the lead
The study further asserts that although there is a correlation between wealth and environmental performance in Europe and Asia, this is weaker in the U.S. and Canada.
«City budgets are as tight as they have ever been, but mayors are leading the charge around making their cities more sustainable because they know they can’t afford to push these decisions off until tomorrow,» said Alison Taylor, chief sustainability officer for the Americas at Siemens.
The index was unveiled at the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival, and is the fifth study in the Green City Index series.
Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of the German engineering conglomerate Siemens A.G. Siemens in the U.S. reported revenue of $19.9 billion during the fiscal year 2010.
