Methodology:
24 indicators have been defined which cover a wide spectrum of water-related factors such
as security, quality, sanitation, drinking water, and so on. These indicators are fed with
public data and water utilities data when possible. As a result, a Blue City Index (BCI) was
calculated for 25 cities as the arithmetic mean of the 24 indicators. Testing results for
eleven cities show a positive correlation between BCI and other indices such as the
Voluntary participation index (r=0.727), Government effectiveness (r=0.927), GDP (r=0.927)
and high UWCS commitment (r=0.904). Not surprisingly, cities that are more
environmentally conscious are also better managed, more innovative, and therefore show
positive results also on the side of public engagement, and satisfaction (Van Leeuwen,
2013).