Inability To Withstand Natural Disasters And Water Shortages Hampering Cities' Sustainability, Says New Index

US cities rank low in flood resiliency, says global sustainable cities index

Arcadis recently released its inaugural Sustainable Cities Water Index, which reveals that U.S. cities are among the most susceptible in the developed world to higher flood risks due to natural disasters.

Key findings 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.
• US 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 US city makes 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, such as a higher susceptibility to drought and natural disasters.

However, generally speaking, cities in North America tend to outperform most other locations when it comes to the quality of their water. In fact, 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 are as below, For more information, visit http://arcad.is/eUXull.

Overall Arcadis Sustainable Cities Water Index ranking:

1. Rotterdam
2. Copenhagen
3. Amsterdam
4. Berlin
5. Brussels
6. Toronto
7. Frankfurt
8. Sydney
9. Birmingham
10. Manchester
11. Melbourne
12. Paris
13. Washington
14. New York
15. Houston
16. Boston
17. Philadelphia
18. Dallas
19. Madrid
20. Chicago
21. London
22. Singapore
23. Seoul
24. San Francisco
25. Tokyo
26. Istanbul
27. Los Angeles
28. Rome
29. Moscow
30. Hong Kong
31. Beijing
32. Dubai
33. Sao Paulo
34. Buenos Aires
35. Shanghai
36. Santiago
37. Kuala Lumpur
38. Abu Dhabi
39. Riyadh
40. Wuhan
41. Doha
42. Jeddah
43. Mexico City
44. Rio de Janeiro
45. Johannesburg
46. Nairobi
47. Jakarta
48. Manila
49. Mumbai
50. New Delhi