What do cities smell like

I sniffed, inhaling odorless air. It was a smell desert. By Bianca Bosker. More: Scent Smell. The New Yorker Recommends What our staff is reading, watching, and listening to each week.

Enter your e-mail address. Culture Desk. If nothing else, it encourages us to tune into a sense to deepen our experience of our neighbourhoods. My friend Dan, who works in Leeds, says his city smells of real ale.

Nathan says Brighton smells of fish and chips, salt and suncream. She has also detected strong aromas of perfume as she walks around — Glaswegians, she has noticed, wear more of it than anyone else. Which goes to show that taking a good sniff can tell you more about where you live than sight alone.

Lavender, petrol or vomit: what does your city smell like? This article is from the CityMetric archive: some formatting and images may not be present.

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