Top 10 Cleanest Cities in the World 2016

Everyone loves to live in a nice neighbourhood, free of crime and graffiti, with an assortment of great local schools, shopping and hospitals, but cleanliness is one of the best examples of how when a city transforms its streets into clean and friendly neighbourhoods, the whole city benefits and reaps the rewards. We have compiled a list of the top 10 cleanest cities in the world for 2016, you may be surprised at what we found!

10. Oslo, Norway 

  

Norway is home to one of the most expensive cities in the world, let alone cleanest, but it is the local councils’ insistence on creating outdoor activity areas, clean parks and public highways that impress the most. With clean streets, parks and recreation areas, the city is able to enjoy more outside than most cities. With large teams of street cleaners and people responsible for garbage disposal, Oslo is one city that is sure to impress any visitor to the land of the Norse gods.

9. Stockholm, Sweden

Source: Lyfe Traveler

Just a stones’ throw away from its Nordic neighbour, Sweden is often seen a modern, clean-living and stylish country to live in, possibly thanks to its infamous Ikea stores, but Stockholm has come a long way in recent years to lower its levels of pollution, carbon footprint and target the natural beauty that many tourists keep coming back for.

Once a medieval town that Vikings set sail from, the modern Stockholm is a highly modernised city, yet still, retains its ancient charm.

8. Vienna, Austria

 

Source: Lonely Planet

This culturally rich city in the heart of Europe has made it its mission to clean up the streets and allow for an injection of cash from tourists to start the ball rolling. A superbly classic city that was home to Mozart and Beethoven not so long ago revels in its rich history of music, culture and art.

Schoenbrunn Palace

Known for its imperial palaces and art galleries, Vienna has made great efforts in recent times to introduce cleaner power sources, as well as help clean up the Danube River which runs through the ancient part of the city. With its clean streets and friendly locals, Vienna is now a top holiday destination.

7. Kobe, Japan

Himeji Castle

Kobe, which is located in Osaka Bay in central japan is famous for many things, such as Kobe beef and tragically the Large Earthquake that rocked the city a few years ago. Since then, the city has done its very best to rebuild and remake one of the cleanest cities on the planet in terms of emissions, waste and cleanliness of the streets.

With dedicated sewage treatment laws, large-scale garbage collection and a clean recycling plant that offers some of the best returns on recycled material in the world, Kobe must even smell impressive!

6. Freiburg, Germany

Freiburg in Germany may not be as famous as some of the other entries on this list, but when you find out that the town is known as “Flower City”, you might get an idea of where this is going. Filled with evergreen trees and flowers in the fields, the city is known to produce a large swathe of flora and fauna and is indeed one of the greenest cities in the world.

Source: PlanetWare

The city is big on being eco-friendly and offers a range of large parks and gardens for the locals to enjoy. Perfect as a location for holiday makers, you might be hearing more of this wonderfully clean city in the coming years.

5. Singapore

 

Singapore has long been one of the many jewels in the crown of Asia for many years, with its insistence on creating beautiful parks, gardens and recreational areas around the ancient city. With rubbish collections performed with almost military precision, recycling within homes is incredibly high compared with other cities or even countries.

Source: Singapore Airlines

Singapore keeps its streets clean and its public areas spotless - many has the old adage gone that you can be put in prison for dropping chewing gum on the floor, but the reality is that chewing gum has caused such a great problem for those cleaning it up that the government banned the sale of it in 1992. As well as the reasonably helpful laws of banning spitting in public and a fine for those who do not flush a public toilet.

4. Adelaide, Australia

Source: Lonely Planet

Adelaide is well known to be one of the best places to visit for a vacation, no matter if you are OCD about cleanliness. Situated with the backdrop of the beautiful Mount Lofty ranges, this pure city has a waste management system that works like clockwork, a local population that takes rubbish seriously and a recycling system that is impressively efficient.

The waste management and recycling system in Adelaide recycles an incredible 85% of waste, making it one of the very few cities in the world to be able to achieve this on a large scale. For such a large city, Adelaide continues to push the boundaries of what cleanliness means for a city, making many other towns and cities frantically trying to keep up.

3. The City of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

The city of Luxembourg is one of the old cities at the heart of Europe that benefits from a wealth of history as well as a modern city that deals in finance and banking. The city is much smaller than many of the other cities listed here, so maintaining the city in good condition could be said to be a breeze.

Being a large tourist destination, Luxembourg prides itself on its clean streets and shining museums and is a true gem for anyone who loves to spend time in an old city to take in the culture.

2. Zurich, Switzerland

Source: Darwin Airlines

Zurich is another European city that takes pride in its cleanliness, with a large population that understands the importance of keeping the streets clean, recycling and using less power, water and waste products. Keeping waste to a minimum and using clean energy is where Zurich hits the mark, with the second highest recycling rate amongst its inhabitants, Zurich will continue to offer a pristine holiday destination!

1. Calgary, Canada

Ranking in the top three places of the world’s cleanest city for the past ten years, Calgary has done it again, so something has got to be special about this city. The city focuses on several different areas of cleanliness, from waste management, recycling to population education and even fines for those who flout the law. Fines for dropping a single cigarette butt in a public space range from $500 to $1,000, so the locals know to look out for the streets.

Each home is given a blue bin that itself is recycled, and allows its residents to use for recycling aluminium, plastics and even glass. With every person in on the project, Calgary is set to win next year’s competition if they keep it up.

Now let's pay some tribute to our city! Melbourne is one of the best places to stay in when it comes to quality of living in Australia. Now, it has begun the journey to turning it into one of cleanest cities in the world as well. Metropolitan Bin Hire is playing a major role in the attempt to turn that vision into reality.