According to the results of the Germany Green City Index study, released on June 21, German cities are greener than their neighboring European counterparts with Berlin being one of the best and Belgrade one of the worst. Information on several of the criteria included in the study, air quality and CO2 emissions for example, are available for members of the public to monitor online.
The study was commissioned by Siemens from independent research institute Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The study examined 29 European cities, 12 of which were in Germany, and ranked each of these cities in terms of energy efficient buildings, energy efficiency, transport, water use, recycling, air quality and CO2 emissions.
According to these criteria European cities were classified as follows:
Above average - Amsterdam, Berlin, Bremen, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Helsinki, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Oslo, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zurich
Average - Cologne, Essen, London, Madrid, Paris, Riga, Rome, Vilnius, Warsaw
Below average - Athens, Bratislava, Budapest, Dublin, Istanbul, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Prague, Tallinn
Well below average - Belgrade, Bucharest, Kiev, Sofia, Zagreb
Information on several of the criteria used in the study - air quality for example - is available for members of the public in the European Union to view online. Other data, such as the quality of bathing water, are also accessible.
Air quality: http://www.airqualitynow.eu/
Ozone pollution: http://www.eea.europa.eu/maps/ozone/map
State of bathing water: http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/interactive/bathing/quality
There are also a number of smartphone apps available which provide European environmental data including:
World Air Quality
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/world-air-quality/id396958256?mt=8
Expair
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/expair/id441755831?mt=8#
Cloud Health
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/cloud-health-radiation-monitor/id442794934?mt=8
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