2014 Good Growth for Cities Index ranked Aberdeen as the best Scottish city to live and work

 

 Lifestyle

  • Aberdeen is a Fairtrade City, Scotland's first from 2004
  • With a £2million pound investment in Superfast Broadband, Aberdeen will soon be one of the most 'digitally connected' cities in the UK
  • Crime rates in the city are steadily decreasing year on year, with rates among the lowest in the country
  • Aberdeen is committed to lowering carbon emissions by 23% by 2015 - through a number of projects including biomass heating and 'smart lighting' being used within the Council's HQ building Marischal College
  • Aberdeen has an award winning Combined Heat and Power network which provides low cost, low carbon electricity and heat to homes and public buildings

 Leisure

  • The city offers an array of cultural and historical attractions including Aberdeen Art Gallery and many museums
  • Aberdeen has a cosmopolitan offering of superb retail and leisure complexes, many theatres, restaurants, clubs, bars and a thriving arts scene
  • A year round programme of events and festivals appeal to both residents and visitors alike
  • Aberdeen Beach - just a short walk from the city centre offers a unique location for watersports or family fun
  • With a golf course for every week of the year, Aberdeen and the surrounding area is a golfer's paradise from Royal Aberdeen which is the world's 6th oldest golf club to Trump's International Golf Links at Balmedie
  • Aberdeen's Duthie Park is one of the most popular parks in Scotland, attracting over 800,000 visitors every year.
  • Aberdeen Sports Village is the premier sports facility in the North East of Scotland hosting an array of first class facilities - the new £18.2million Aquatics Centre opened in Spring 2014

In 2012 Aberdeen was named the happiest place in Scotland and the 3rd happiest location in the UK

 

Living

  • Aberdeen has a wide range of both commercial and residential properties from business parks to stunning town houses made from the local granite stone
  • The average house price in Aberdeen rose by 5% to £196,175 in 2012
  • Aberdeen City Council is at the cutting edge of the drive to provide family homes with state-of-the-art renewable technology
  • Aberdeen's Local Development Plan identifies several hectares of land to be released for an additional 20,000 homes

Aberdeen is a globally connected compact city with excellent air, sea, rail and road links

 

Connectivity

  • The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is a new route being developed to improve traffic flow in and around Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland. It is due for completion in 2018
  • Aberdeen City Council has secured a fleet of up to 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses which will operate in the city - the first deployment of hydrogen buses in Scotland and the largest fleet in Europe
  • Aberdeen's first car club was launched in 2012 - 10 of the 11 operating vehicles have CO2 emissions of less than 100g per KM

Facts and Literature

 

Aberdeen has an estimated population of 227,130 which accounts for 4.3% of Scotland's population

 

Skills Attraction

  • The Centre for Cities Outlook 2015 report named Aberdeen as one of the top ten cities in the UK for private sector jobs growth between 2004 and 2013
  • Aberdeen's employment rate of 78.4% increased by 0.5% from 2012 to 2014, making it the 2nd highest UK city for employment rate
  • The unemployment rate in Aberdeen is significantly lower than other parts of Scotland 
  • The job ratio in Aberdeen is 1:1.2 meaning there are 1.2 jobs for every person in the city of working age
  • The average full-time weekly wage is £625, significantly higher than Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and the Scottish average which is £584.90
  • Aberdeen has the potential to create private sector jobs and make a big contribution to the UK economic recovery
  • Aberdeen's transferable energy skills have the potential to transform the renewables industry

62% of school leavers in Aberdeen went on to either further or higher education - significantly higher than the Scottish average

 

Education

  • The city's school exam results are considerably higher than the national average
  • Aberdeen is home to two universities, the University of Aberdeen and the Robert Gordon University
  • The University of Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest university with the current roll exceeding 16,000 students it contributes nearly £400 million every year to the local economy
  • The University of Aberdeen is regarded as Scotland's top university for research and study of law
  • The University of Aberdeen developed the MRI Scanner
  • The Suttie Centre for Teaching and Learning is a recognised centre of excellence, ensuring that the region remains at the forefront of medical teaching
  • The Robert Gordon University is consistently named the UK's top university for graduate employment and was recently proclaimed the 'Best Modern University in the UK'
  • RGU's Gray's School of Art is one of the oldest art schools in the UK, and is now at the forefront of new media, with digital design and product design courses
  • Aberdeen College, now part of North East Scotland College is one of Scotland's largest full-time education colleges
  • The Rowett Research Institute is an internationally renowned centre for nutrition research and makes a significant contribution to the food industry worldwide
  • The Macaulay Institute was founded in 1930 and is a global centre for research and consultancy on the environment and on the social consequences of rural issues. It has now joined with the Scottish Crops Research Institute to form the James Hutton Institute

 

 

Facts and Literature