Exeter cleanest city in England – that’s official
Published: 10 February 2022
Exeter is the cleanest city in England according to a new report, the City Council has revealed.
An in-depth analysis of environmental data by ENDS Report, puts the city at the top of a new ranking of the country’s 55 largest urban centres.
Exeter is the cleanest city in EOn ENDS’s index, which ranks the 55 primary urban areas in England on more than 30 environmental factors grouped into five categories – air quality, climate, water quality, public realm and green behaviour – Exeter finished ahead of Worthing and Brighton in a top five dominated by cities on England’s south coast.
Exeter ranked highly on several measures, including air quality, climate and water quality. It recorded fewer days of poor air quality than any other urban centre in the index, and boasted below average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
The city’s position at the top of the index is partly due to the City Council and its efforts to create a better environment for the city, its residents and visitors. The Council has been focussing over recent years on the challenges of climate change, air quality, water quality, congestion, local amenity and quality of life long.
London, meanwhile, finished at the bottom of the ranking. While the capital performed strongly on climate and green behaviour – it has the lowest proportion of residents commuting by private vehicle, and a high level of electric vehicle charging device provision – the city’s poor air quality was a key factor behind its position.
The Clean Cities Index was created following an extensive data project, drawing on data at ‘primary urban area’ level – a measure of the ‘built-up' area of a town or city, rather than individual local authority districts. More than 30 environmental indicators from external data points were compiled and weighted in order to provide a ranking of England’s cleanest – and dirtiest – urban areas.
Jamie Carpenter, editor of ENDS Report, said: “The Clean Cities Index is intended to start a debate about the state of the environment in our biggest towns and cities, and shine a spotlight on some of the wide environmental disparities that exist between them.”