Newcastle is Britain's greenest city
Author: The Guardian - Nov 19, 2009
A city once wreathed in smoke and deafened by shipyard steel-hammers, has transformed itself into the greenest in Britain, according to the country's most comprehensive sustainability audit.
Millions of pounds and a communal push for cleaner, brighter surroundings have returned Newcastle upon Tyne – almost - to the days when Thomas Bewick made his countryside engravings in the city centre and commuted home through meadows.
"We hope this inspires other cities to redouble their efforts," said Peter Madden of Forum for the Future, whose annual rankings show the Geordies leap-frogging more "apparently green" cities such as Bristol, which came top last year, and the 2007 winner Brighton & Hove. For the second year running, Hull propped up the bottom of the table.
"Anywhere with an industrial heritage faces genuine challenges, but Newcastle's success shows how it is possible to overcome the legacy of the past. In all our categories – environment, quality of life and future-proofing, the city scores really well," said Madden.
Tyneside's triumph drew on improvements in air quality, biodiversity in public parks and open spaces and the best salmon run on a English river. The audit shows the city performing well on waste collection, extending green space, life expectancy and the local strategy for tackling climate change.
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