Green Streets

The study finds that the average York resident has a carbon footprint of 12.58 tonnes of CO2 per year, with housing and transport accounting for 60% of this total. Analysis of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) reveals significant variation: the highest footprints are found in city centre, rural, and commuter areas, while the lowest are in disadvantaged urban areas or student-heavy neighbourhoods. The report identifies a gap between green attitudes and actual behaviour, noting that some neighbourhoods with strong green attitudes still maintain high footprints. By combining data on emissions, resident attitudes, and local infrastructure, the report identifies specific neighbourhoods with the 'highest potential' for change. For housing, these include Heworth Without Rural and South Bank Central; for transport, the Holgate and Osbaldwick areas are highlighted. The findings support the 'York Green Streets Challenge', a project targeting 100 households to achieve a 10% reduction in their carbon footprint in 2010.

• The average carbon footprint for a resident of York is 12.58 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is slightly higher than the UK average of 12.12 tonnes and the Yorkshire and Humber average of 12.21 tonnes.
• Housing and transport are the primary drivers of York's carbon footprint, together representing nearly 60% of the total.
• Carbon footprints vary by neighbourhood: Dringhouses Central has the highest average footprint at 14.51 tonnes of CO2 per person, while Heslington has the lowest at 9.01 tonnes.
• There is a correlation between geography and footprint size, where the highest footprints are typically in the city centre, rural, or commuter areas, and the lowest are in disadvantaged urban areas or those with many students.
• A gap exists between environmental attitudes and behaviour; neighbourhoods with strong green attitudes often still have large carbon footprints, with Heslington being the only exception that has both a strong green attitude and a low footprint.
• The neighbourhoods identified as having the greatest potential to reduce their housing carbon footprint are Heworth Without Rural, South Bank Central, Heworth West, Heworth North, Westfield North West, and Huntington Far South.
• The neighbourhoods with the highest potential to reduce their transport carbon footprint are Holgate North West, Holgate East, Holgate South East, and Osbaldwick.
• Local infrastructure, such as inadequate loft insulation or distance to services, acts as a barrier to green lifestyles. For example, Westfield North West, Woodthorpe South, Minster, and Bishophill have the highest proportions of homes with inadequate loft insulation.

APA

Haq, G., & Owen, A. (2009). Green Streets. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Rethinking-development/Sustainable_consumption_and_production/FinalGreenStreetsReportOct2009.pdf

Chicago

Haq, Gary, and Anne Owen. Green Streets. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2009. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Rethinking-development/Sustainable_consumption_and_production/FinalGreenStreetsReportOct2009.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Haq |first1=Gary |last2=Owen |first2=Anne |title=Green Streets |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2009 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Rethinking-development/Sustainable_consumption_and_production/FinalGreenStreetsReportOct2009.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{haq2009green, author = {Haq, Gary and Owen, Anne}, title = {{Green Streets}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2009}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Rethinking-development/Sustainable_consumption_and_production/FinalGreenStreetsReportOct2009.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }