Out of 109 cities surveyed by the European Commission in 2015, Ventspils in Latvia occupied first place with 99% satisfaction of residents, followed by Valmiera, also in Latvia, with 97%. Luxembourg sat in joint-third place with Oviedo in Spain.

Luxembourg City was the most spotless of all EU capital cities ranked by residents. In Paris and Brussels, just under half of respondent said they were happy with the cleanliness of their cities.

Clean air

The survey, which was published by the European Commission to mark EU Green Week, examined perceptions of cleanliness that can be seen. However, it is also worth bearing in mind the cleanliness of the air. This month, six countries, including France, Germany, the UK, Hungary, Italy and Romania, were taken to court for exceeding air pollution limits.

In 2018, Luxembourg began a nationwide monitoring programme of its ambient air as part of the “Klimapakt”. The aim is to raise awareness among communes about air quality and motivate local authorities to introduce measures to improve it. Meanwhile, at the beginning of May the environment department launched a free air quality application for outdoor air called “Meng Loft”.