Here is the article, here is the top of the list:
1, Baku, Azerbaijan
2. Dhaka, Bangladesh
3. Antananarivo, Madagascar
4. Port-au-Prince (pre-quake? I believe they are now uncontested #1 or will be soon.)
5. Mexico City
Most of the rest are in Africa. If I did the ranking, Mexico City would do much better than number five, since air pollution isn't as bad as the lack of sanitation in cities such as Conakry (a mere #19). And why does Bangui (CAR) get such an idyllic photo? Nor does Google offer up any nasty photos of the place.
Hat tip goes to the essential Rachel Strohm, Twitter feed here.
“If I did the ranking, Mexico City would do much better than number five, since air pollution isn’t as bad as the lack of sanitation in cities such as Conakry (a mere #19).”
I don’t know about that. Last time I was in Mexico city I looked down and realized the sidewalk I was walking on was completely covered in shit for about half a block. I would call that pretty dirty.
Surprising. Calcutta would come in top 10 AT LEAST. IT SHOULD
Incredible and heartbreaking. If you consider the fact that until very recently (on an evolutionary scale), humans only lived in groups of 100 or so, it’s no surprise that things like irrigation, which you might expect to improve sanitation, actually concentrates people statically, increasing the degree to which we poison ourselves with our own excrement.
Also, I wonder how some of these dirtiest cities would compare to, say, Ancient Rome.
In the case of Mexico City, they are probably counting the “Chilangos” as pollution (not entirely unreasonable).
Not surprised Almaty and Moscow and Baku are on the list due to the past Soviet history of majorly playing God and doing things like planning to divert rivers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_river_reversal
Takoradi, Ghana was the dirtiest city I’ve ever been to. I don’t know if it was the rats or the poop that got to me the most…
i can believe dhaka is #2.
although i know the ‘access to clean drinking water’ thing can’t be fixed overnight, at least half these cities would be 1000% improved if they’d just pick up the garbage from the streets and use trashcans from here on out. this is not rocket science. look at the pictures: the trash in the streets, alleys, front yards, etc., isn’t bolted down or anything. *clean it up*, people!! the fact they (seem to) refuse to do this is….telling.
Also, I wonder how some of these dirtiest cities would compare to, say, Ancient Rome.
Julien Simon answered that. In 1900 , at London there were 6 ft of horse excrement in the streets. The most dirty city of the world is by far cleaner than any city pre 1900. Cities are easier to clean and sanitize. Life expectancy grows with concentration of population. Something about one of those economic esoteric term : economy of scales.
Try fumigating a whole country or trying to get clean water to the population if they are not in a little area
My daughter was in both Juarez, Mexico and Kolkata not long ago, and found them strikingly similar. But, indeed, in Kolkata, human feces in the street is not uncommon, and the Ganges is a festering cesspool.
Dirtiest city? Easy. Washington DC.
El coronado, who is “they”? Do you clean up the mess your neighbours made?
Cotonou would be definately be in my top 5. I was surprised to see Bamako so high on the list, I thought it did pretty well in comparison to other cities in the region.
The “People’s Palace” in Conkary sure looks depressing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Conakry-palaisdupeuple.JPG
I think finding photos is hard because people use prefecture names. This photos of Ratoma at the bottom look pretty bad:
http://www.worldsportsalliance.org/site/noticias.view.php?id=305
Re: Ancient Rome:
Sanitation is not entirely a new invention; see e.g.
http://www.sewerhistory.org/chronos/early_roots.htm
or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_in_ancient_Rome
although i know the ‘access to clean drinking water’ thing can’t be fixed overnight, at least half these cities would be 1000% improved if they’d just pick up the garbage from the streets and use trashcans from here on out. this is not rocket science. look at the pictures: the trash in the streets, alleys, front yards, etc., isn’t bolted down or anything. *clean it up*, people!! the fact they (seem to) refuse to do this is….telling.
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