Publication Type

Report

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

9-2026

Abstract

The Singapore Management University undertook the seventh wave of the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey (PCSS), with 2,007 Singapore residents participating in the survey conducted from December 2025 to April 2026.

The findings from the 2025 wave of the PCSS continued to reflect generally high levels of satisfaction with public cleanliness in Singapore. Based on the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Index, 91% of respondents reported being satisfied with the cleanliness of public spaces they had recently visited. While this represents a slight shift from 94% in 2023, overall satisfaction levels across all public space domains remained high. Continued community responsibility and action remain key to keeping Singapore clean.

Among individual public spaces, “MRT and LRT stations” and “bus interchanges” continued to record the highest satisfaction levels at 98.4% and 98.0%, respectively. “Void decks, corridors, and lift lobbies” saw satisfaction at 80.9% in 2025, compared to 89.7% in 2023, while “hawker centres” and “coffeeshops” continued to record comparatively lower satisfaction levels at 76.4% and 76.8%, respectively.

The study also examined perceptions of public cleaning services across public spaces. The majority of respondents continue to regard cleaning efforts as adequate overall, though perceptions of insufficiency increased in 2025 relative to 2023. The proportion perceiving insufficient cleaning frequency rose from 8.4% to 10.8%, while the proportion perceiving insufficient cleaning thoroughness increased from 8.1% in 2023 to 12.3% in 2025. Perceptions of insufficient trash bins nearly doubled, increasing from 10.4% to 19.2%. Across these three aspects, respondents were more likely to cite places with high footfall such as “coffeeshops”, “hawker centres”, “wet markets”, and “common areas in neighbourhoods” as areas where cleaning services were less adequate.

Regarding public toilet cleanliness, 75.5% of respondents reported being satisfied across various establishments. This represents a decline of 8.2 percentage points from 83.7% in 2023. Public toilets in “shopping malls in downtown and central business district areas” continued to record the highest satisfaction levels at 93.6%, while “coffeeshops” and “hawker centres” remained the lowest-rated locations at 48.3% and 60.0% respectively. Most respondents (59.6%) still identified individual users as primarily responsible for public toilet cleanliness.

The study further examined attitudes and behaviours relating to tray return, table cleaning, and anti-littering enforcement measures. Respondents continued to report high rates of tray return, with 95.5% indicating they return their trays and crockery all the time. More respondents also viewed tray return as an individual responsibility, increasing from 79.9% in 2023 to 83.3% in 2025. Additionally, intrinsic motivations for tray return became more prominent. Though a slight decrease (1.5 percentage points), a majority of respondents (77.7%) still cited social responsibility as their main reason for returning trays and crockery, and a further 12.9% (a 2.7-percentage-point increase) cited keeping the environment clean and preventing bird nuisance. Meanwhile, a lower proportion of respondents (7.7%) reported doing so primarily because of enforcement, a 1.9-percentage-point decrease. These findings suggest that tray return and some cleanliness-related behaviours may increasingly be viewed as socially expected practices rather than actions motivated primarily by enforcement. The survey also examined attitudes towards littering, shared responsibility, and community participation in maintaining public cleanliness. Respondents continued to express strong support for personal and collective responsibility in maintaining cleanliness.

Keywords

Singapore, survey, public cleanliness, transportation, leisure spaces, food outlets

Discipline

Asian Studies | Place and Environment | Sociology

Research Areas

Sociology

First Page

1

Last Page

40

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Embargo Period

9-2-2026

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

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