A new study has assessed 50 cities across the UK on their progressiveness in order to find out where the most forward-thinking areas are in which to live and work.
The Bankrate study evaluated seven categories of data: Google search trends, gender pay gap, recycling rates, voter turnout, vegan and vegetarian availability, ultra-low emission vehicles and council diversity.
Each city was awarded a score out of five per bracket, which then formed the overall rankings.
It was discovered that Oxford boasts the highest overall score across the UK at 23.82 out of a possible 35.
London was ranked in fourth place with an overall score of 22.13, behind Brighton and Hove (23.33) and Bath (22.31).
Cambridge (21.87), Bristol (21.50), Leeds (21.29), Cardiff (21.28) and Exeter (21.21) made up the top ten, with a strong correlation shown between progressiveness and towns with high student numbers.
Brighton and Hove ranked highest in terms of vegan and vegetarian eateries (5/5) compared to London’s 3.5 overall score.
The city of St Albans (progressiveness: 19.23) was found to have the highest recycling rate across the UK with a score of 5/5, while Swansea was the city with the narrowest gender pay gap.
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