London, Ont. ranks highly on environmental scorecard: Report

When it comes to environmentally friendly living conditions among Canada’s largest cities, the Forest City is paving the way, according to a new report.

A new report published in the journal Environmental International examined 30 cities across Canada with a population of more than 100,000 people. It analyzed environmental factors such as air quality, noise pollution, water quality, risk of natural disasters and access to green space.

From these factors, it then calculated an overall score.

“London has the highest overall scores out of any of the cities,” said Daniel Rainham, the senior author of the study.

The study compared each of the 30 cities inclusively, and weighed each of the environmental factors to calculate the final rating. The goal is to provide communities with an overall view of where they’re succeeding and where they need improvement.

“The idea is to look within the city and to look at your city overall and say, ‘Do we have a lot of inequity in terms of access to health environmental conditions?’ And, ‘Where are the places that we can improve?’” said Rainham.

A map of the City of London that ranks its environmentally friendly living conditions based on a multitude of factors. On a ranking of 30 cities across Canada, London, Ont. ranked first when it came to environmental equity. (Source: Environment International)

London ranked the highest with a median score of 70, while nearby Kitchener and Guelph also scored well.

On the flip side however, several of Canada’s largest cities fared poorly. For example, Alberta’s urban centers of Edmonton and Calgary ranked at the bottom.

Rainham said London’s balance helps it score well.

“Across the board, all the neighbourhoods within the city will have fairly high scores. So it’s not a large range across all of the neighbourhoods, and that bodes well in terms of good environmental conditions,” he explained.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said having this data can help better inform future environmental decisions going forward.

“When I looked at the map in the study, you can almost see where some of our major parks overlap in some of the areas with the best results,” he said.

He added, “We recognize the value – not so much in comparing ourselves to other municipalities because I think that we don’t want to get into a competition. But we want to look at how we as a community, how we as a regional leader, and how we as an urban centre can contribute to keeping Ontario’s environment clean and healthy.”

As Canada’s population becomes increasingly urbanized, Rainham said data such as the report can help those communities think critically about city design and planning, and better identifying neighbourhoods that need improvement.

— With files from The Canadian Press