Urban sustainability through multiple pathways: insights from the European Green Leaf Award winning cities

Abstract Urban sustainability has become a central challenge for cities, requiring rigorous frameworks to measure environmental performance and support evidence-based policy. Indicator-based benchmarking systems enable comparison and learning. At the European Union level, and specifically at the municipal level, these are most commonly represented by the European Green Leaf Award (EGLA) and the European Green Capital Award (EGCA), which play an increasing role in shaping urban sustainability agendas. The paper examines environmental characteristics of the 18 EGLA-winning cities between 2015 and 2026 and is guided by two research questions: (1) What patterns of environmental characteristics can be identified among EGLA-winning cities? (2) Do these cities converge toward a common environmental model, or do they exhibit multiple sustainability pathways? The study addresses these questions by using a multivariate, data-driven approach: environmental indicators across key domains are examined through Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) and k-means clustering to identify patterns of similarity. The results indicate substantial differences in sustainability performance and heterogeneity: EGLA-winning cities do not converge toward a single model but exhibit distinct environmental profiles reflecting different policy priorities and local conditions. The results may provide information for municipalities on the green transition and environmentally friendly developments, especially in small and medium-sized cities.