Are you wondering what are the greenest cities in the world?
The following wonderful cities are green destinations where cutting-edge urban culture can be enjoyed alongside the outdoors. Interestingly, almost all of them are water-linked cities.
Best described as cities focused on sustainability and eco-friendliness, a ‘green city’ strives to respond to climate change by providing resources, partnerships and a platform to lessen its environmental impact. These innovative plans aim to reduce waste, expand recycling, lower emissions, increase housing density, while also expanding open space, and encouraging the development of sustainable local businesses. These urban spaces are examples of how cutting-edge city culture can be enjoyed by creating denser, greener and more liveable cities.
Here are the greenest cities in the world!
1. Copenhagen
The capital city of Denmark, Copenhagen is situated on the eastern edge of the island of Zealand. The coastal city was named Europe’s coolest green city by the ‘Ecologist’ magazine to showcase its climate friendliness.
Copenhagen, along with its inhabitants, has long put sustainability at the top of its agenda, as environmental awareness is both fundamental public policy and a way of life here. The city is well known for its advanced environmental policies and planning that it has won many awards for its eco-credentials over the years.
Due to continued investment into green alternatives, Copenhagen has reached number one on the list of most eco-friendly cities in the world. The city offers a high quality of life for its residents and has an ambitious goal to become even more eco-friendly.
With environmental planning such as the city’s infrastructure designed to be conducive to bicycling and walking (rather than cars), and a water quality warning system to monitor pollution levels, Copenhagen is Europe’s and the world’s greenest city. Finally, the city was the first in the world to adopt a planet-cooling mandatory green roof policy and continues its bid to become carbon-neutral by 2025.
Finally, Denmark is well known for its progressive stance towards animal rights and provides some of the best living conditions to animals in zoos. Just in case you are wondering zoos are not always good for animals. Read here to find out if zoos should be banned.
2. Amsterdam
The most populous city of The Netherlands and the capital city of the country as well, Amsterdam is classified as one of the world’s greenest cities. It is located in the western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.
Amsterdam is famed not only for its abundance of parks and green spaces, but also its eco-friendly attitude to transport and daily life. o become more sustainable and remove the negative effects of climate change, the city was one of the first to outline sustainability measures — with an aim to achieve results by 2020.
The city sports an urban grid with bike infrastructure, including protected paths, racks and parking. Amsterdam uses electric vehicles to reduce unwanted emission and trains, buses and subways run on renewable energy. By applying the concept of green innovation, Amsterdam is taking the lead when it comes to greentech startups in Europe.
This sustainability hub is dotted with parks, gardens, and scenic canals, and is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, due in part to its compactness and flatness.
More homeowners are beginning to install solar panels on roofs and grow their own foods, or alternatively, purchase from local farmers’ markets, which in turn, puts money back into the local economy.
Amsterdam is truly a green city that is increasingly putting more emphasis on social impact with cycling being the city’s main form of transportation, higher than average rates of recycling, and a real shift towards circular economy across all industries.
Finally, if there’s any city in the world that needs to be concerned about climate change, it’s Amsterdam. Having some of the cleanest water in the world is great but when the entire city lies below sea level, it doesn’t exactly quell those flooding fears. They already experienced a flooding tragedy in the 1950s; and, with a $150 million Climate Fund, the city has the motivation, money, and measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
3. Singapore
This city and island nation is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Known as one of the cleanest cities in the world, Singapore is also one of the greenest. More often associated with towering skyscrapers, it has woven urban planning along with nature throughout, even into its heights.
The city is the greenest in Asia and created its first Singapore Green Plan in 1992 to tackle clean water, clean air and clean land. Today, if you leave the concrete jungle behind, you’ll find a network of parks that spans the island, adding to a green cover that makes up about 46 per cent of the country.
The island, swathed in green, aims to have zero waste in landfills by the mid 21st century (which includes the minimization of e-waste). The city leaders—obsessed with demographic forecasting and city resiliency—are evolving the copious parklands into ‘therapeutic gardens’ designed for the elderly.
There is one initiative in the city to ensure a more sustainable green status throughout the nation: Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Scheme. This scheme is a rating system which was introduced in 2005 to evaluate all buildings based on their environmental impact and performance. The mark is awarded to the buildings at four levels—Certified, Gold, GoldPLUS, and Platinum.
4. Vancouver
This densely populated city in western Canada is world-renowned for green thinking and living. Located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, the city is the cleanest city in Canada and one of the cleanest in the world.
Vancouver is one of the greenest cities in the world due to its sterling reputation in environmentalism: it has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in North America and more than 300 LEED-certified buildings (as reported by the city council’s Green Vancouver initiative). The city runs on over 90 per cent renewable energy, thanks to its large supply of hydroelectricity, and has also invested a lot of money and time into expanding their mass transportation network.
Vancouver is retrofitting buildings citywide to increase energy efficiency and has a citywide mandate to do so. The city’s Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP) 2020 is set to bring Vancouver’s community-based greenhouse gas emissions down to 5 per cent below 1990 levels and run the city on over 93 per cent renewable sources. The city is also the headquarters of several prominent environmental groups, including the David Suzuki Foundation and Greenpeace Canada.
Finally, there is an abundance of evidence to show that Vancouver is making strides towards creating a more sustainable city for its residents. For example, the residents has found a 23% increase in green jobs and a 26% increase in local food jobs since 2013. As well as this, a further 23% of Canada’s CleanTech companies are located in the capital — whether this is through digital contracts or by implementing a cycle-to-work scheme.
5. Stockholm
The capital of Sweden is spread across a 14-island archipelago. Stockholm is the most populous urban area of Sweden as well as Scandinavia. Surrounded by woodlands, the city is built on water and has some well known green credentials.
Stockholm is an international role model for global environmental and climate action and depends entirely on renewable resources for its energy. The city was the first EU city that received the title of ‘European Green Capital’ in 2010 by the European Commission.
The major city has an aim to remove the use of fossil-fuels by 2040 and is doing so by implementing new policies that encourage a greener society — with investment help from the European Union to become smarter. On top of this, bio-fuel is becoming more popular and is generated from sewage waste, powering vehicles around the city.
Stockholm has the ability to reuse wasted heat from its 30,000-seat stadium too. Recovered heat may be able to help warm over 1,000 flats more efficiently using sustainable methods.
Finally, the Swedish capital has adopted two new policies to support its important efforts going forward: The Environment Programme and The Climate Action Plan. Furthermore, the city will adopt a climate budget and aims to be fossil-free and climate positive by 2040.
6. Reykjavik
Reykjavik, the capital of Island, offers a peaceful environment to live or holiday at. The city (as well as the country itself) has so much to offer — aside from its exceptional landscape and hot springs.
The city’s population is one of the main factors that contribute towards a greener space, with only 126,100 people, allowing adaptive changes to be made regularly. By 2040, Reykjavik plans on eliminating their production of greenhouse gas emissions by not only promoting walking and cycling, but also the use of public transport.
The reason behind the promotion of public transport is that the city has aims to continue introducing hydrogen buses and only 4% of people use them anyways. To ensure this happens, the city has a goal of trebling this by 2030. As well as this, the city invested millions into the creation of cycling paths and is encouraging electric car use for its 9,000 public employees by offering free parking and lower taxes.
7. Cape Town
Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, has been performing exceptionally well from an eco-friendly perspective and has made it to this list of the greenest cities in the world.
Cape Town is always looking at new and innovative technologies to create a more sustainable location — so much so, they began using wind farms for energy way back in 2008.
As well as this, the city is trying to push forward an idealistic outdoor lifestyle. To encourage this, the city has invested in safe-cycle routes and its My CiTi rapid service allows bikes on buses for free to help people get around without a car. As well as this, many people have started to grow their own vegetables and make use of solar panels.
8. Curitiba
Probalby you have never heard about Curitiba before. Located in the South of Brazil, Curitiba is however one of the greenest cities in the world.
Curitiba’s sustainability efforts are designed to respect its culture and rich history. They’re also accessible to everyone, no matter the financial citations. Their Free University for the Environment, for example, enables both wealthy and economically disadvantaged citizens to learn about sustainable living.
Citizens also receive food and tokens to the city’s rapid bus system in exchange for utilizing its impressive recycling program. Since the 1970s, the city planted more than 1.5 million trees and opened 28 public parks to increase air quality and make the city a better place to live.
9. San Francisco
San Francisco is one of the greenest cities in the world — which could come to a shock as the population is around 860,000. But, innovative solutions have led to a more sustainable lifestyle for the residents of this iconic setting, maintaining that picture-perfect reputation.
To ensure that this Californian city remains within the top world’s sustainable cities, there are many focus areas for local authorities. For example, with immense knowledge on waste management, San Francisco currently diverts 80% of its waste away from landfills and plans to increase this number to 100% by 2025.
As well as this, the authorities are pushing forward bans on certain products that are causing damage to the environment. It has even pushed through legislation to ban plastic bags and plastic water bottles, among others. This is definitely a step in the right direction for more beneficial environmental results.
10. Vienna
The capital of Austria, Vienna, has become one of the greenest cities in the world recently. Green spaces make up almost half of the citiy’s area—higher than any other European city.
Vienna sets a high bar in terms of conservation, circularity, wastewater management, clean air and water, and public transportation. The city boasts a 96% residential recycling rate and has bans on plastic bags. If traveling there, don’t forget your reusable bag when checking out one of the many local markets.
11. Berlin
The capital city and the largest city of Germany, Berlin has cut its CO2 emissions by one-third since 1990. One of the many green aims by Berlin is to be climate neutral by 2050.
With over 2,500 green spaces, hundreds of cycle lanes and recycling incentives (€0.25 for every plastic bottle you recycle), it’s a city that has sustainability at its core. With a population which is incredibly mindful of their impact on the planet, the city has more usage of public transport than cars and the least water consumption per capita in Europe.
Add to that, Berlin’s Environmental Zone (first on the European main continent) in its city core allows only vehicles that have a sticker indicating that it meets certain emissions standards. The city also runs interactive educational green tours that teach people about the country’s green initiatives, such as its Natural History Museum tour, which includes information about biodiversity and how to preserve it.
With the rise in electric vehicles, Berlin has installed more than 400 charging points across the city and has encouraged citizens to think about changing vehicle type. Not only this, but residents aren’t seeing the need for personal cars and are opting to share with one another in a bid to save the planet.
Also, after the World Wars, Berlin’s residents became extremely self-sufficient and valued their green spaces much more than they ever did, learning to grow their own foods — which is a trend that has been passed down through the generations.
As one of the city’s initiatives in ‘service water recycling’, the apartments have a filter system for greywater to be recycled so that it can be reused to water rooftop gardens.
12. Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, boasts 300,000 trees—one for every 20 inhabitants—among 6,400 hectares of green spaces.
In 2018, the city introduced Madrid Central, a city center only accessible on foot and by public transportation. Capable of reducing emissions by 40% by eliminating passenger cars, it’s considered one of Europe’s most significant air quality improvement efforts.
The city has also embraced sustainable food and farming systems. Even their soccer (er, football) team, Real Madrid, partnered with a meatless farm to promote more sustainable, vegetarian eating habits.
13. London
The capital city of England and the United Kingdom, London, is the greenest major city in Europe, and the third greenest city of its size in the world according to a report by the City of London Corporation. Standing by the river Thames in the southeast of England, the city has actively worked to leave its bleak, early Industrial Revolution image behind, by creating green spaces, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging the growth of green areas, waterways and paths, and encouraging residents and tourists to access them.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has set a goal of turning London 50 per cent green by 2050, including private areas such as back gardens, to make London’s transport system zero-emission with all taxis and minicabs to be non-polluting by 2033. The pledge also aims that under the plans, all new road vehicles driven in inner London will also need to be zero-emission by 2040.
14. Helsinki
Finland’s capital, Helsinki, is situated on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland. It places great emphasis on encouraging environmentally-friendly lifestyles and therefore encourages bicycle use and public transportation.
It’s a model city of sustainable development and in 2019 received the title of European Capital of Smart Tourism from the European Commission. The title is given on the basis of sustainability, digitalisation, cultural heritage and accessibility. Helsinki creates an atmosphere that motivates reducing unnecessary consumption and construction efforts that consider sustainable development.
One of the biggest contributors to Helsinki’s economy is tourism, which has led to an increase in eco-friendly accommodation. In fact, around 75% of hotel rooms in the city have been certified as environmentally friendly and those that haven’t fully pledged their allegiance to the cause have some sort of environmental plan in place covering all aspects of the business; from food and water to waste management and energy consumption.
On top of all this, Viikki is a green district within the city. The 23-hectare residential area focuses on sustainability and as an experimental project, the district has made use of solar and wind energy systems. So much so, that the first apartment building to use solar electricity in Finland is located here.
The city of Helsinki’s strategy for 2017-2021 includes the goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2035 and in order to achieve this ultimate goal, an interim goal is set to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by the year 2030.
15. Oslo
Norway’s capital, Oslo was awarded the prestigious European Green Capital title by the European Commission for 2019. Sitting on the country’s southern coast at the head of the Oslofjord, the city owes this success due to its commitment to, and efforts towards improving its urban environment and boosting awareness of the need for environmental change at a city level.
The Norwegian capital’s green accolades include improvements made to cycling lanes, public transport infrastructure and ecological environments, along with its vast network of biodiverse streams and rivers, which have been rehabilitated and made accessible to the public.
The city has a Green Belt Boundary that protects wild areas from development. In the first half of 2018, 60 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Oslo were electric, and 56 per cent of all public transport journeys citywide were powered by renewable energy, according to the European Union. Emissions of the city are also down and it is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
These greenest cities around the world set an example for other urban spaces to follow. They provide templates for other cities on how to provide the most sustainable lifestyle. This active approach starts by addressing climate change and being environmentally friendly. Although you might not find your city on this list, you could follow in their footsteps and implement some of their green strategies in your local community. Who knows, maybe next time, your city might be featured on the list of greenest cities in the world!
