This week sees a huge army of local authorities, combined authorities, property developers and others descend upon the city of Leeds to attend UKRiiF.
The organisers of the event describe it as:
“Bringing 16,000+ professionals from national and local government, investors, developers, end-users and the wider built environment industry together – it’s the place where conversations start to drive investment and regeneration in our regions.”
This event sees just about every location across the UK promoting their own location and encouraging investment.
The North East is taking a large contingent from across the combined authority area, with public and private sector partners joining together.
The region working together is positive but as a former leader of Newcastle I would like to see this as an opportunity to adopt an approach specifically for Newcastle.
Newcastle upon Tyne has long been a city of innovation, industry, and radical civic ambition. Today, its future is being shaped by new missions: to become Net Zero by 2030, to build an inclusive economy, and to improve health and wellbeing across the city’s communities.
While the ambition is strong, the question remains: how do we measure success?
This is where city-level ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) metrics can play a transformative role. If thoughtfully developed and locally grounded, ESG metrics can help Newcastle demonstrate its values, attract aligned investment, and hold itself accountable to the people it serves. While environmental sustainability and governance are essential, they serve as prerequisites. The true measure of a city’s resilience and long-term viability lies in its social infrastructure—encompassing health, education, housing, and community well-being. If these social foundations are not robust, investments risk perpetuating inequality and social instability.
As global capital becomes increasingly aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, cities risk being left behind if they don’t learn to speak the same language. ESG is no longer just the terrain of corporate boardrooms or investment portfolios—it is becoming a critical framework for urban leadership, resilience, and trust. But here’s the problem: most ESG frameworks were not designed with cities in mind. They often rely on data and structures that fit corporate reporting, not complex urban systems. That’s why I believe that developing bespoke ESG metrics for cities is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s essential.
Traditionally, ESG frameworks have been used by corporations and investors to evaluate ethical risk and sustainability performance. But place-based ESG is a way to assess the long-term value and resilience of cities, regions, and developments.
Investors, philanthropic foundations, and public sector funders are asking:
- Is this city climate-resilient?
- Does its growth include its most vulnerable communities?
- Is there good governance and transparency in decision-making?
Without credible, city-specific ESG metrics, these questions are hard to answer. With them, Newcastle can become an investable, values-led place—on its own terms.
Importance of ESG metrics
Global investors are actively seeking projects and places that align with ESG priorities. Cities that can demonstrate real impact on carbon reduction, social equity, and transparent governance are better placed to attract funding—from green bonds to impact funds to public-private partnerships. A clear, credible ESG framework gives investors the confidence that a city isn’t just claiming to be sustainable or inclusive but can prove it.
A city-level ESG framework can unify fragmented goals across departments—housing, transport, planning, health—into one shared language of impact. It turns abstract ambitions into measurable outcomes: how many affordable homes were built? How is air quality changing in deprived areas? What’s the gender pay gap in the city’s public sector supply chain?
Metrics make it possible to set targets, allocate resources strategically, and measure progress in ways that matter to people’s lives. People are increasingly asking whether their cities are working for them. ESG metrics allow residents to see not just what is being done, but why, and how it connects to long-term value for communities. Transparent, independently verified metrics build public confidence and enable genuine scrutiny.
Social impact—especially in areas like health equity, community wealth building, or inclusive growth—often falls through the cracks of traditional economic data. ESG helps bring it into focus.
Personalising ESG for Newcastle
Cities are not corporations. A successful city ESG framework must reflect local context, culture, and capacity. That means co-producing metrics with communities, ensuring they reflect lived experience, and resisting the temptation to over-simplify.
Newcastle’s Inclusive Economic Strategy (2022–2030) commits to “building a greener, fairer, more inclusive and innovative city.” Similarly, the city’s Net Zero Newcastle Action Plan lays out a route to carbon neutrality by 2030. Other strategic frameworks include:
- The Health Innovation Neighbourhood (Newcastle University, NHS)
- Newcastle’s Smart City Programme (Urban Observatory, Newcastle City Council)
- The development of a City of Longevity and Ageing Innovation Cluster (UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing)
A localised ESG framework could act as an integrator across these agendas—connecting environmental, social, and governance indicators into one unified system for tracking and reporting.
Attracting ethical and long-term investment
Cities able to demonstrate impact across ESG dimensions are more likely to access:
- Green bonds and climate finance
- Mission-aligned private capital (e.g. regeneration investors with a social focus)
- UK government and devolved funding for Net Zero and levelling-up initiatives
By developing metrics that show how projects improve local air quality, reduce health inequalities, and support local employment, Newcastle can tell a compelling investment story.
Measuring what matters to residents
Too often, success is judged by GVA, or infrastructure spend. But people ask different questions:
- Is my area safer and healthier?
- Are there jobs and opportunities for my children?
- Does this new development reflect my culture and community?
A bespoke framework created specifically for the city would allow Newcastle to measure outcomes like:
- Improvements in wellbeing and life expectancy (especially considering the differences between wards in the city)
- Access to nature, active travel, and affordable homes
- Local employment and ownership in development and procurement
Building public trust through transparency
City leadership depends on public trust. ESG metrics—especially if co-produced with citizens—can improve transparency, enable accountability, and encourage more inclusive policy making.
Open dashboards, citizen reporting, and regular updates on ESG progress would support deeper democratic engagement.
Reflecting Newcastle’s identity
Newcastle’s framework should reflect the city’s cultural, demographic, and industrial distinctiveness. That could include:
- Social metrics focused on health equity, ageing, and inclusive housing
- Environmental metrics on river health, building retrofit, and transport emissions
- Governance indicators like community involvement in major regeneration projects
A national example could emerge from Newcastle’s Health Innovation Neighbourhood, where health, culture, design and community power could be embedded into placemaking.
Developing a city ESG framework is complex—but Newcastle has the foundations:
- Data infrastructure via the Urban Observatory (the UK’s largest urban monitoring programme)
- Anchor institutions like Newcastle University, Northumbria University, Newcastle College, the NHS Trust, and NE1 BID
- Active community organisations who could shape and validate local metrics
- Ongoing regeneration and Net Zero projects that can test the model in real time
A partnership between the City Council, anchor institutions, community leaders, and investors, such as the “Shaping the City” Group established last year, could co-design a framework over the next 12–18 months, aligned with the city’s budgeting and planning cycles.
Cities that measure only what’s easy will miss what’s essential. By building its own metrics, Newcastle has the chance to lead—not just in economic growth or carbon reduction, but in proving that a fairer, healthier, and greener city is possible. This could provide the cornerstone of a sustainable urban future. By prioritising social equity and addressing the city’s challenges head-on, Newcastle can set a precedent for other cities striving for holistic and inclusive development
This is more than a technical challenge. It’s a test of civic imagination—and a tool for democratic renewal.
Newcastle is ready. Now is the time to build the framework.
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