A new ranking lists the most exemplary cities in Europe in terms of cleanliness. The top places go to metropolitan areas in the north, with Switzerland just missing out on the top 10 with Zurich.

How clean a city is contributes significantly to the well-being of its inhabitants. After all, who wants to stumble over mountains of garbage or be exposed to enormous levels of particulate matter in everyday life? All of this should be reduced as much as possible in a model city.

And according to a new ranking by the German health portal “Deutsche Medz”, these model cities are mainly located in northern Europe. The list names Helsinki, Stockholm, Reykjavík and Oslo as the four cleanest cities in Europe.

The study took into account air and water quality, the proportion of green spaces, how satisfactory waste disposal is and the efficient use of water resources, as the authors write on their blog. A total of 48 cities in Europe were compared.

These are the three cleanest cities

Finns seem to be doing something right, as they have not only been the happiest in the World Happiness Report for years, but the new ranking also declares Helsinki the cleanest city in Europe.

Finland’s capital stands out above all in terms of satisfaction with waste disposal. But Helsinki also shines in all other areas, demonstrating what urban well-being should look like. The many green spaces and their quality not only satisfy the city ‘s residents, but are also a popular retreat for tourists.

Stockholm is right after Helsinki on the list. With very good drinking water quality and a high proportion of well-maintained green spaces, Sweden’s capital earns silver. It is followed by Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, which has by far the best quality drinking water in the comparison.

You can see the overview in the table below:

Zurich comes in 11th place – behind Vienna and Munich

Zurich, the Swiss representative, just misses out on the top ten, coming in eleventh place. Our neighbors Germany and Austria make it into the list with Vienna, Hamburg, Salzburg and Munich ahead of Switzerland.

If we look purely at drinking water quality, Zurich ranks slightly higher. In this category, the Swiss city comes in ninth place.

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