Top Green Cities: Where to Travel Green is part of our Back to School: Green Travel Basics series.
What are the top green cities in the world? There are plenty of others in the publishing and green world who have created scientifically calculated (and not so scientifically calculated) lists of top green cities. So I’ve put together an ultimate list of the top green cities.
Unfortunately, most of these lists are United States only lists. So I’ll link to the World lists first:
Top Green Cities in the World
According to Grist:
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Portland, Oregon, U.S.
- Curitiba, Brazil
- Malmö, Sweden
- Vancouver, Canada
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- London, England
- San Francisco, California, U.S.
- Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador
- Sydney, Australia
- Barcelona, Spain
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Kampala, Uganda
- Austin, Texas, U.S.
According to Treehugger:
- Portland, OR
- Freiburg, Germany
- Zermatt, Switzerland
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Austin, Texas, USA
And my own contribution to the world cities list would be the World’s Greenest City: Masdar in the United Arab Emirates, which is not yet completed, but could be the world’s greenest city when it is.
Top Green Cities in the United States
According to Popular Science
- Portland, OR
- San Francisco, CA
- Boston, MA
- Oakland, CA
- Eugene, OR
- Cambridge, MA
- Berkeley, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Chicago, IL
- Austin, TX
photo credit: lg rivas
According to Best Places.net
- Burlington-South Burlington, VT
- Ithaca, NY
- Corvallis, OR
- Springfield, MA
- Wenatchee, WA
- Charlottesville, VA
- Boulder, CO
- Madison, WI
- Binghamton, NY
- Champaign-Urbana, IL
National Resources Defense Council (large cities only)
- Seattle, WA
- San Francisco, CA
- Portland, OR
- Oakland, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Austin, TX
- Sacramento, CA
- Boston, MA
- Denver, CO
- Chicago, IL
So there you have it – the top green cities in the US and in the world. You can see that the top cities remain fairly consistent across all rankings. So if you’re looking for the greenest destination, check out some of the major cities on the West Coast.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The fact that there are so many different cities listed just shows how difficult it is to define a green city. Reykjavik, for example, will use loads of energy per person simply because it’s so cold so much of the time.
If you calculated it based on carbon footprint per citizen, then places that use human powered transport more than cars would surely be fighting for a top spot. In Europe that means Amsterdam, but now increasingly place like Copenhagen and Helsinki too.
http://greenexplorer.ovi.com/getinspired/europe/netherlands/the-new-capital-of-pedal-power/
i would never say bangkok was green what so ever
hiii where is chandigarh ……. it is the world green city and india’s beautiful city also known as the city beautiful.
Tokyo – the greenest major city in the Asia-Pacific region
Solidiance publishes the first Asia Pacific Top 10 Green Cities ranking, after analyzing 10 cities in the region.
Tokyo is the greenest major city in Asia-Pacific region, followed by Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore and Osaka.
This is the conclusion arrived at by the study of the social, economic and environmental factors contributing to the environmental sustainability in each major city.
The study evaluates the ten cities in categories such as: CO2 emissions; energy; transportation; air quality; water; waste and green space; and environmental governance.
“A ranking of Asia Pacific green cities has never been done, and this was a response to our clients’ requests for comparative green market opportunities in the region. The analysis will be useful for businesses to understand which cities are more progressive in green development.
It is heartening to see that developed Asia Pacific cities have placed an emphasis on ensuring that their city’s ecosystem is sustainable. Developing cities can look towards the top ranked green cities for best practices to leapfrog the learning curve in cultivating a green urban ecosystem” says Damien Duhamel, the Managing Partner of Solidiance.
Our studies show a correlation between green urban environments and the innovative city.
Japan shows the sparkle of innovation, and the export of green technology know-how to other cities could be the next wave that revitalizes the lagging economy.
The Singapore government has the ability to effectively implement green urban policies, and is likely to climb up the rankings over the next 2-3 years. Singapore is forced to take a pro-active approach, due to her lack of natural resources.
Branding and Communications: Julienne Chan
Tel: +65 64088206
http://www.solidiance.com
Feb 14, 2011