The most sustainable cities to visit in 2024

As every year, the Global Destination Sustainability Index has announced the sustainability results for 2023, encompassing environmental, social, and management practices globally for destinations and their providers. Not surprisingly, no Italian city ranks in a good position.

The Most Sustainable Cities in and out of Europe

For the seventh consecutive time, Göteborg secures the first position with a score of 94.64%, followed by Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Bergen. To find other major European cities, you need to go down to 21st place with Paris, 31st with Berlin, and 32nd with Brussels. Milan ranks at 40th as the only Italian city in the top 100. Beyond Europe, cities like Singapore and Sydney achieve excellent results in terms of performance.

What Does Sustainable City Mean?

As specified by GDS, city sustainability does not solely include environmental performance but also aspects of daily life that can carry an ethical meaning. Values such as inclusion and equal opportunities are indeed considered "sustainable" and rank as fundamental values in many Scandinavian countries within the top 5 of the considered sample. At the same time, technological innovation used for advancing environmental sustainability in certain places is inherently sustainable.

What Does Ethical Travel Mean?

Ethical travel has a different meaning, representing the ways and spirit in which travel is undertaken (means of transportation, accommodation, local experiences, and much more). This mode does not always align with the destination, which for various reasons may not be sustainable.

The cities in the following list have been selected based on this dual standard, the possibility of making an ethical journey, and exploring cities highly attentive to various types of sustainability.

The Top-Ranked, Göteborg

Göteborg, originally famous for the Volvo car company, is the largest port in Scandinavia. In the last twenty years, it has reinvented itself and emerged as a modern travel destination through a complete restructuring of the city's character. The industrial character of declining neighborhoods has transformed into cutting-edge design, converting warehouses and factories into restaurants, art galleries, and independent cafes. The city boasts a lively nightlife in front of an archipelago of tranquil islands ideal for nature walks. In 2020, Göteborg was already listed among the "European Capitals of Smart Tourism 2020", but why is the city considered so sustainable and forward-thinking? Firstly, the pedestrianization and bike-friendliness of the streets are widespread, creating a perfect harmony with numerous well-maintained green areas. Hospitality includes 90% of accommodation certified as ecological, complemented by a highly efficient and functional public transport system undergoing complete electrification by 2030. Of course, sharing and micromobility are easily facilitated through bike and electric scooter rental services.

In 2021, Göteborg also stood out for the Gothenburg Green City Zone, the world's first zero-emission zone in collaboration with Göteborg, the Göteborg region, and Volvo Cars. It aims to create a climate-neutral transport system in a vast geographic area. In this mode, the second city in Sweden commits to reducing its climate footprint to near-zero by 2030. Göteborg embraces innovation, collaboration, and circularity in every aspect of its tourism economy, offering a rich cultural and natural heritage, as well as a thriving organic gastronomic scene. As stated by the GDS Index, Göteborg can be considered an example in all these dimensions, as it has mastered the art of combining tradition and innovation, attracting visitors looking for memorable experiences while respecting the environment and local community. Beyond the recognized results in environmental terms, other factors contribute to the ranking, including public safety, health services, and overall quality of life measured according to an international standard for destinations. To sum up, Göteborg manages to express a new, forward-thinking way of experiencing tourism, taking into account all the parameters that make a city really livable.

2. Copenhagen, Between Mermaids and Colors

If Gothenburg is too small for your standards, you will certainly be more satisfied with Copenhagen. Visiting Copenhagen means immersing yourself in the city that inspired Hans Christian Andersen for his novel "The Little Mermaid," strolling through the artist's quarter of Christiania, enjoying the love for the old and the modern in a typical Scandinavian seaside setting. Sustainability is tangible everywhere, starting from the multitude of bicycles that crowd the streets more than any car, to the extensive choice of vegan and vegetarian options in every restaurant. In 2014, the city won the "European Green Capital" award thanks to the drastic reduction of CO2 emissions and the very high satisfaction level of citizens related to the quality of life (97%). Achieving this goal has obviously required efforts from both citizens and the local administration, which has implemented substantial initiatives to make the city cleaner, more efficient, and above all, more ecological. In fact, the city itself has adapted to the ecological sensitivity of its citizens, building more and more bike lanes and facilitating the mobility of those who choose two-wheelers.

Living in Copenhagen, in fact, means using the bike every day; everyone has one and everyone uses it for any movement: to take the children to school, to go to work, or to go out in the evening. The city administration has always focused its energies and resources on improving infrastructure for cyclists rather than for cars. In the capital and the surrounding areas alone, there are more than 350 kilometers of bike paths. Furthermore, Denmark was one of the first European states to implement environmental legislation. For over 20 years, every initiative, project, or construction has been designed in relation to the environmental impact it generates. The icing on the cake? Copenhagen has set the goal of becoming a "carbon-neutral" city by 2025, and all the prerequisites are there.

3. Singapore, the Smart East

If you want to go beyond European borders, Singapore, ranked 17th, in line with the stated goal of becoming a global leader in sustainable tourism and events, is certainly an interesting destination. With one of the best public transportation networks in the world (including excellent airport connections), endless cultural attractions, and delightful food stalls on every corner, Singapore is the perfect synthesis of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian traditions, from feng shui to ancestor worship, in an ultramodern landscape.

Why is Singapore considered sustainable? For several reasons, among which perhaps what distinguishes it most is the high possibilities of socio-economic ascent, favoring significant levels of productivity and investment in human capital and quality of life, facilitated by the already mentioned efficient, clean, and modern public transportation, so convenient as to limit traffic and pollution in a metropolis with more than 5 million inhabitants. In 2030, the new Terminal 5 of Singapore's airport will also come into operation, designed to respond best to the climate crisis and the possibility of a new epidemic like the one in 2019. This structure will be completely ecological to the point that the "Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy Building" certification ensures that the terminal will be almost zero-impact as the energy needed for its operation will be produced almost entirely by a huge system of photovoltaic panels. Artificial intelligence, thermal energy storage, and district heating will then guarantee an almost total reduction of waste. Another important innovation? The terminal will be prepared to accommodate aircraft and ground vehicles that run on alternative fuels.

4. Sydney, the World's Best Meetings

The GDSI has shown that global meetings held in Sydney attract delegates who directly contribute to the destination's attractiveness through the economy of visitors and tourism more broadly. These global meetings, in fact, stimulate the knowledge economy, attracting world-class talent and providing crucial experiences that stimulate significant social changes. Sydney has an absolutely unique landscape: a cutting-edge city with fauna and flora at your fingertips different from those of other continents. All accompanied by institutional commitment to make the center easily accessible on foot or by bicycle, but also to ensure that the different urban units into which the city is divided are organized as autonomously as possible, thus reducing the need for long-distance travel. Since July 2020, the city has also become the first in the world to be powered entirely by renewable energy. This ambitious goal, proposed as early as 2008 by Allan Jones, head of the Department of Energy and Climate Change in Sydney, is part of the broader project "Sustainable Sydney 2030," which aims to make Sydney an increasingly sustainable city and to reduce harmful emissions by 70% by 2030.

But it doesn't end there: the city of Sydney has ambitious goals to promote sustainable transport, and it will not be limited to making the subway more "green" (considering the other three lines under construction in this period). The state government has allocated 41 million dollars to modernize the transport network over four years, with a particular focus on sustainable mobility through models such as "30-minute cities" and "15-minute neighborhoods," which will allow citizens to easily and quickly access services, schools, jobs, and recreational areas. A gem for locals? The "Garden Island" district where every single building and structure is built with sustainable techniques and systems, roofs and facades with green areas.

5. Zurich, the Swiss Pocket Metropolis

On November 30, 2008, the citizens of Zurich voted in a referendum to incorporate the goals of the "2000 Watt Society" into municipal law. From that moment, the local administration began to improve the energy efficiency of the urban fabric, investing in wind and geothermal energy-powered plants, providing free advice to property developers, and providing incentives for the purchase of smart household appliances and solar panels. This brief introduction only gives us a glimpse of the progressivism present in this city, the rest is composed of great freedom in the liberalization of drugs and sex work, with a mix of typical Swiss culture and refined elegance.

Good news: Mayor Corine Mauch, in office since 2009, is a flagship in the world of LGBTQ+ rights and environmental and social sustainability. Furthermore, according to the annual study conducted by Sole 24 Ore, Zurich is the European city with the best perceived quality of life by its citizens, reaching up to 97% consensus. The city, in fact, has a very high level of social sustainability as the cost of living, far from easy, is perfectly balanced by the level of salaries: 92% of those surveyed in the European Commission's survey are satisfied with the financial condition of their family. In short, what are you waiting for to go to the city of dreams?