Not just by me, but also according to Reader's Digest, which has ranked Stockholm the world's No 1 in eco-friendliness and environmental thinking and calls it "the world's greenest, most livable city". At the other end of the 72 place-long list is Beijing. The magazine is basing its ranking on a range of criteria such as public transport, air and water quality, local environmental laws, energy prices, waste management and green areas. The governor of Stockholm, Per Unckel, thinks the city's green thinking in its housing development is a key factor and markets the area of Hammarby Sjöstad. And he's probably right, because many governments - the British being one of them - have visited Sjöstaden to learn about sustainable housing. (Almost as many have visited Stockholm to study the congestion charge scheme.)
Stockholm can do at least one thing better though. It did not - and I can't understand why - participate in the European Car Free Day last week. If Rome can manage to ban cars in the city centre for a day, Stockholm definitely could!
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