Amsterdam, Rotterdam in top five most sustainable cities worldwide

Amsterdam and Rotterdam got 4th and 5th place in a global study into the most sustainable cities. This is according to the Duuzame Steden Index (Sustainable Cities Index) that ARCADIS published today. The most sustainable city is Frankfurt, followed by London and Copenhagen in 2nd and 3rd place. There are 7 European cities listed in the top 10. According to ARCADIS, sustainability is important because cities that do well in that field have a high quality of life, prosperity and emit the least greenhouse gases. "The Netherlands is doing particularly well because we are accustomed to create a livable environment in small areas", said Carolen Gehrels, director of Big Urban Clients at ARCADIS. "For Rotterdam sustainability is an important theme. The port and city should be more intertwined. The expectation is that in about 30 years the population of the city will double with a minimization of the environmental pressure." Sustainability is also high on Amsterdam's agenda. The city aims to have as much as possible greenhouse-gas-free traffic by 2025 by, among other things, increasing the number of electric charging points to 4 thousand. There will also be two cargo hubs (transshipment points for goods) on the outskirts of the city in the near future, ARCADIS reports. The ARCADIS research study shows that Amsterdam has the best balance between the various subcategories of the study. Rotterdam came first in the subcategory "people" because of the relative equality in income and the balance between work and home.