SIEMENS

Every summer the Aspen Ideas Festival attracts flocks of visitors to a town that is better known as a popular winter resort. The focus of the festival? Building a better future. At the end of June 2011 the U.S. and Canada Green City Index was presented here. The study was commissioned by Siemens and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which compared 27 cities across the U.S. and Canada in terms of nine environmental categories: CO₂ emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air quality, and environmental governance. Similar studies have already been conducted in Europe, Asia, and Latin America (see Pictures of the Future, Spring 2010 and Spring 2011).

American cities are often portrayed as a huge resource drain, blighted by urban sprawl and a lack of environmental awareness. But that stereotype no longer applies. “Today’s mayors have realized that action is needed and are working toward a sustainable future,” says Alison Taylor, Chief Sustainability Officer at Siemens for North and South America. “Of course some of them have just started, while others are further along.”

San Francisco is the greenest city according to the Index, followed by Vancouver, New York, Seattle, and Denver. Surprisingly, all of these cities vary considerably in terms of their size, number of inhabitants, population density, and annual income, and yet they all did well. For instance, New York has 12 million inhabitants, while Boston and Seattle have just over 600,000. And while Vancouver has a gross domestic product of almost $37,000 per capita, the other cities achieve closer to $60,000. One thing they all have in common, though, is ambitious environmental planning. For instance, San Francisco has opted to work closely with the private sector and has implemented strict recycling laws.

Huge Gains. Interestingly, lower-ranking cities on the Index have made huge gains:

➔ Atlanta is ranked in 21st place overall, but it has the highest number of LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) buildings.

➔ Miami (in 22nd place) takes second place in terms of carbon emissions, thanks to the clean energy generated by its power plants.

➔ Detroit, which came in last, actually boasts one of the best public transportation systems — better than New York’s or Seattle’s.

“Altogether, North American cities rated well compared to other parts of the world, especially thanks to measures to improve air quality, waste management, recycling, and water infrastructure,” says Tony Nash, Head of the EIU. For instance, at 13 percent, water loss due to leakage is lower than it is in Asia (22%), Europe (23%), and Latin America (35%). And at 26 percent, North America’s recycling rate is approximately a third higher than in the European Green City Index.

But despite these success stories, a lot remains to be done — particularly when it comes to resource consumption, CO₂ emissions, and transport. For instance, the average North American uses 590 liters of water a day, more than twice as much as people in Europe, Asia, or Latin America. Canadian cities in the survey produce an average of eight tons of CO₂ per capita annually. American cities generate about twice that amount. While these cities beat the national U.S. average, which according to the World Bank is 20 metric tons, cities in Europe and Asia produce only about five metric tons of CO₂ per capita per year. The good news is that 21 of the 27 cities in the Index have set their own targets to reduce carbon emissions in coming years.

Commuting and Urban Density. Many transportation challenges can be traced back to the problem of urban sprawl. To avoid this, the ideal city should have a combination of high population density, plenty of green spaces, and short commutes to work and recreational activities. That’s a rough description of New York City, which has almost 11,000 inhabitants per square kilometer (km2) and green spaces that make up around a fifth of its area. However, most of the cities in the Index are comparatively thinly populated, with 3,000 inhabitants per km2. In Europe, that number is 3,900, and in Asia it’s 8,100. In the United States, many people live in suburbs and use their cars often. Only one out of ten Americans and one out of four Canadians commute to work by public transportation, bicycle or on foot. In Europe, over 60 percent do. Canada already has some good public transportation systems in place, so that approximately 1.5 kilometers of bus, rail, and subway lines are available per square kilometer. That’s more than three times as much as in U.S. cities.

Other positive signs are the excellent results achieved in environmental governance, which can hold their own with those attained in Europe. Almost every city on the Index has appointed a sustainability officer and has developed a comprehensive environmental policy. NGOs are also extensively involved in these efforts. A prominent example is the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization based in Washington that developed the LEED guidelines for buildings, which are being used all over the world today.