Arcadis recently released its inaugural Sustainable Cities Water Index, which revealed U.S. cities are among the most susceptible in the developed world to higher flood risks.
Key findings of the index include the following:
• Rotterdam tops ranking as the world’s most sustainable urban water city followed by Copenhagen and Amsterdam.
• Lack of urban green space impacts the resiliency of many cities in Middle East and Asia.
• U.S. cities rank well in water quality but are susceptible to higher flood risks.
• World cities of New York, London and Hong Kong have greater water vulnerability with none featured in overall top 10.
The Arcadis Sustainable Cities Water Index assesses 50 global cities by the stewardship of their water across issues impacting their water resiliency, efficiency and quality to show which cities are best positioned to harness water for their long term success.
No U.S. city made it into the index’s overall top 10, with the East Coast hubs of Washington, D.C., and New York performing significantly better than their West Coast counterparts. Cities in California perform the lowest, hampered mainly by their difficulties with resiliency due to a higher susceptibility to drought and natural disasters.
Cities in North America tend to outperform most other locations when it comes to the quality of their water, however. Toronto, Chicago and Philadelphia take each of the top three spaces when it comes to ensuring a healthy and clean water supply.
The overall 2016 Sustainable Cities Water Index rankings can be found on the Arcadis website.
Source: Arcadis
