Good Growth for Cities Index

According to the recent Good Growth for Cities Index 2016 – 2018 report from PwC, Glasgow was the most improved Scottish city overall and Edinburgh was one of the best cities in which to live and work in the UK, coming seventh place in the Index which featured 42 UK cities.

Three of Scotland’s cities – Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen make the national index.

Jobs was the city’s best scoring indicator, with other stand-outs including work-life balance, skills and income distribution. The Index also looked at employment, income and health. Housing affordability, commuting times, environmental factors and income inequality were also factors along with the number of new business start-ups.

The Index measured 42 cities based on 11 indicators that show there is more to life, work and wellbeing than GDP alone. These include employment, health, income and skills, while housing affordability, commuting times, environmental factors and income inequality are also included, as is the number of new business start-ups.

Glasgow’s improvement was attributed to a strong performance in the jobs metric, where it was 11 overall. It also performed above the national average in five of the 11 indicators and it increased in nine of the 11 categories.

Edinburgh was one of the best cities in which to live and work in the UK, coming seventh place in the Index.  It saw increases in five of the indicators including income, jobs growth and work life balance. Transport was Edinburgh’s best performing variable.

Due to the wealth of natural resources here in Scotland and our increasing commitment to lower emissions, these three key cities outperformed the national average in carbon emissions per average earnings, and in improving skills.

However, the Index shows that Scotland is becoming a less affordable place to live, with owner occupation down across the board. That’s where Urban Union hopes to make a difference by continuing to offer high quality, affordable homes in Scotland’s key areas.