A new report unveils a very different insight into the nation’s opinion on our role in creating a sustainable world. Despite, being constantly reminded of our individual responsibility to ‘green up our act’, surprisingly, what we cite as the biggest challenge to sustainable cities in the future is the growing population. As the world’s population reaches 7 billion, research reveals this is a bigger concern to us than shortages of resources and global trends like climate change.

With latest figures revealing Manchester (13th) and Liverpool (14th) are in the top 20 of the most sustainable cities in the UK – people are clearly welcoming this shift towards a greener environment. By realising that it is a joint effort, with one in three of us stating that cities should create more ‘energy efficient’ buildings and just under half (45%) of us being prepared to buy locally, will it ever be possible to one day achieve a totally self sufficient city?

The research also reveals that despite ‘carbon footprint’ becoming the buzzword of the 21st Century, we are less worried about carbon emissions (18%) than we are about expensive electricity (28%) and traffic (23%) when it comes to our most pressing environmental concerns we have with our city’s future. However, there is still a willingness to realise our individual responsibility, with well over half the population (68%) stating they would be willing to spend more to live in a green ‘energy efficient’ home.