In December 2015 China issued a “red alert” warning for their capital, Beijing. Smog and
air particle levels were ten times higher than the World Health Organization’s safety
standards. The alert shut down schools and stopped construction, reflecting China’s
ongoing issues with pollution. At that same time, the rest of the world was meeting in
Paris for the United Nations Climate Change convention, in an attempt to tackle growing
environmental concerns. So while Beijing is covered in smog, we want to know: what are
the cleanest cities in the world?
A 2012 Green City Index report by the Economist Intelligence Unit examined each major world
region to determine which global factors contribute to cleanliness.
In Europe, many of the top spots were captured by Nordic countries, with Copenhagen in Denmark
as the cleanest city overall. Zurich, Switzerland also received high points for lowest CO2 emissions.
Both countries have strict limits on high polluting vehicles, but there is also a societal
push to use public transit, bicycling, and walking. Even the 2009 Copenhagen Accord saw
the world’s major economies come together for the first time to lower global emissions.
In Latin America, a clear and repeat winner for cleanest city has been Curitiba, [kureh-teebah]
in Brazil. The city was the first to introduce bus rapid transit in 1974, and has continued
the trend of working with its citizens to provide environmental benefits. A recycling
program called, “Garbage? That’s not garbage!” has led to about ¾ of the city’s trash
recycled by residents. Other programs, like one which trades bus tokens for recycling,
shows how effective communal and government efforts can be.
Another top recycler, this time in Asia, is the city-state of Singapore. On average, they
generate less trash per person than the rest of the continent. But they also keep the city
clean through high density planning, and infrastructure investment. Recycling and water treatment
plants are state of the art, and designed around supplying the uniquely compact city.
With so many people living so close together, it is very important to produce as little
waste as possible.
Over in North America, it’s health conscious San Francisco that takes the lead. According
to the GCI, San Francisco recycles as much as 77% of their waste, which is more than
any European city besides Leipzig, Germany. Another reason is that SF requires that commercial
building owners submit regular energy usage reports, leading to considerably lower usage.
This, coupled with a sharing economy, high quality public transit, and and marginal environmental
tax benefits, makes makes SF incredibly clean.
Lastly, and unfortunately, no cities score “well above average” in Africa. The highest
ranked, Accra in Ghana, is not necessarily the cleanest. But they get major points for
having a direct bureaucratic link with the national government concerning the environment.
This helps not only in monitoring, but also action, and is found lacking in most African
cities profiled.
Overall, the most consistent aspect of environmental friendliness seemed to be based on society’s
willingness to take part. Mass transit and recycling help bring down emissions, as does
efficient city planning and government policy. But it should come as no surprise that without
the support of the people, there is little that can be done to save the earth.
While it is nice to live in a city with no pollution, much of the world does not have
that luxury. To find out what pollution actually does to your body, check out this video by
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