For the first time in many years, there appears to be a growing collective will in central and local government to release cities from Whitehall's grip; to increase their autonomy and give them control of their own economic development.

Both Manchester and Birmingham have already taken big steps forward by investing in the social and environmental infrastructure necessary to attract and retain people and business.

The first Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index supports this. Our research looked at 20 metrics across three categories – People (social), Planet (environmental) and Profit (economic) – to build a comprehensive view of 50 global cities' sustainability. Whilst London ranks 2nd overall, beaten only by Frankfurt, Manchester and Birmingham placed highly – 14th and 18th respectively – ahead of major centres like New York (20th), Tokyo (23rd) and Los Angeles (28th).