Cleanest vs. Most Polluted Cities of the World!

In early September, the Blacksmith Institute published their annual survey of the World’s Most Polluted Places. I really like this type of survey and enjoy reading their conclusions. However, personally I also like being able to contrast this type of information with the other end of the spectrum, so I also looked up Forbes most recent publishing of the World’s Cleanest Cities. As you may have suspected, the most polluted cities are found in the developing world, with emerging markets such as China, India, and Russia, being the main culprits (each contributing 2 cities to the list). As for the cleanest cities in the world, those were all found in the United States, Canada, Europe, and one from Japan. Obviously, the results of both of these surveys are debatable, and are largely influenced by researchers opinions. However, as I compare those cities on the cleanest list with those on the most polluted list, I find it really amazing to see all that we are capable of as humans–both good and bad.

To see a place like Calgary, the fastest growing city in Canada and fossil fuels center, as the number one cleanest city in the world is really inspiring. However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, cities like Linfen, China, where over 3 million people can’t even put their laundry out to dry as it will be covered in coal and soot from abysmal air pollution, shows us that we still have a long way to go (Time).

World’s Cleanest Cities:		World’s Most Polluted Cities:
1. Calgary, Canada		1. Linfen, China
2. Honolulu, United States		2. Tianying, China
3. Helsinki, Finland		3. Sukinda, India
4. Ottawa, Canada		4. Vapi, India
5. Minneapolis, United States		5. La Oroya, Peru
6. Oslo, Norway		6. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
7. Stockholm, Sweden		7. Norilsk, Russia
8. Zurich, Switzerland		8. Chernobyl, Ukraine
9. Katsuyama, Japan		9. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
10. Berne, Switzerland		10. Kabwe, Zambia

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