The City Blueprint

a practical communicative tool that can help cities on their path to becoming sustainable water-wise cities

Extreme weather events that leave city streets under water in no time
Protracted drought that renders a city's water supply incapable of meeting its needs
Two extreme cases that become more and more a reality because of climate change,
and especially since urbanization is rapidly increasing
In 2050, 87% of the population in developed countries will be living in cities. At about that time, water supply will fall short of demand by 40%
The consequences of climate change leave cities no choice: they are forced to adapt their water cycles because the cost of inaction is very high
But how can a city quickly grasp which elements of it water cycle are already sustainable and which need to be adapted?
Try it!

Benefits of the City Blueprint

Reveals at a glance precisely where a city's strong and weak points lie and can serve as the key first step in strategic long-term planning to realize cities to be sustainable and water-wise
It is an easy to understand interactive tool serving strategic decisions. The actual assessment is done together with key stakeholders ensuring usable results and quick access to expert knowledge
It offers a platform that enhances city-to-city learning, exchange of best practices. Cities can learn important practical lessons from other cities that have already implemented best practices
The City Blueprint platform is expanding with at present, 50 cities in 30 different countries

How does it work?

Participation in the City Blueprint process requires little effort whereas it can produce high returns. It shows the city exactly what steps they want to take towards making Urban Water Cycle Services (UWCS) sustainable.

Methodology

After the completion of the questionnaire, a radar chart of all 25 performance-oriented indicators and the overall score, the Blue City Index (BCI) are provided both varying from 0 (concern) to 10 (no concern).
The indicators are divided over seven broad categories representing the entire urban water cycle:
1 Water quality
2 Solid waste
3 Basic water services
4 Wastewater treatment
5 Infrastructure
6 Climate adaptation
7 Governance
For detailed information regarding the scoring and rationale of each individual indicator, see:
City Blueprint Guidelines

This project has received funding from the European Union's H2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 642354

Project Coordinator

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