beijing and hong kong are unbelievable dirty.

Mumabi in the cleanest cities in the world? Are you smoking something? Its one of the dirtiest cities in the world.

Somehow, I don't think they polled anybody in Camden.

lol. uhm. highly disagree.
1. i live in new york. it's not clean. i mean sure there's no garbage flying everywhere but it's no where near "clean".
2. amsterdam is clean but the canals smell TERRIBLE. my friends apparently can't smell it cause they are used to living there. but when i first got there i was like. what died?!
3. lisbon. is sparkling clean and should be in top 10 at least, that place is practically made out of white marble and porcelain.
4. singapore being the cleanest is a myth. it is highly overrated. yes if you spit you'd get a fine, but the city is by no means the cleanest in the world.

first, what is ranking out of 40 out of 40? How many cities were involved; what is the criteria; etc?
Second, in regards to the dirtiest cities, I think it is woven into the culture to be a dirty society. I've noticed that similar ethnic neighborhoods in the US corresponding to the countries with the dirtiest cities are also dirty. Perhaps, the people in those cities have a high tolerance for dirt and filth. For example, people in Switzerland tend to respect cleanliness and thus make it their priority to ensure a certain amount of city's revenue is spent on maintaining cleanliness and pollution abatement.

if nyc is cleaner than chicago then i'm ... well, i'm *some*thing, because nyc is pretty dirty.

This story reminded me of the time that I went to Disneyland in CA. I only saw one piece of trash the entire time I was at the park. A worker ran over to it, picked it up and threw it away right before my eyes. I have never seen a cleaner amusement park.

I don't know why I read these lists. I haven't read an accurate one ever.

This is a politicl list.

Bombay at # 40. Are you kidding me?

Obviously, you haven't been to Islamabad. It is easily among top 10 cleanest cities of the world.

No surprise that Zurich is near the top of the list -- even James Joyce once remarked that the Bahnhofstrasse was so clean you could eat your minestrone off it.

Why aren't the photos clearly labeled? I can't tell which city I'm looking at.

As an American who is currently living in the Tokyo area, I am constantly surprised by how clean it is. This is especially amazing when one considers Japan doesn't have that many public trash cans. One thing that probably helps is that Japanese people don't often eat and walk at the same time, so there isn't that temptation of just throwing the wrapper to the side. Also the Japanese are very serious about their trash separation.

Graffiti isn't exactly dirt or filth, but it sure does ruin German cities that would look spotless otherwise.

One of the ways I judge a country is whether I get sick when I eat the food. Splitting my time between Vietnam and US, I have experienced quite a contrast. Never became ill in Vietnam, whether eating in restaurant or sidewalk vendor. In US, my wife an I have gotten ill to the point where we no longer go to any chain restaurants or buffets. And we have to be mindful of all the food recalls. But with any country, there are dirty areas as well as clean areas. Downtown Saigon is kept clean but less so as you venture further away from it. It irks me to see people throw trash from their motorcycle or into the Saigon River from a riverside restaurant.

Well, I'd be cautious to rank Rome as one of the Cleanest Cities in the world... I go down there often and.... yeah, not one of the cleanest....