The City Blueprint for Water is a baseline assessment of the sustainability of water management in a city (or other dominantly urban region). The result allows a city to quickly understand how advanced it is in sustainable water management and enables it to compare its status with other leading cities. This project is one of nine Action Groups selected by the European Commission as an initial EIP Water Action Group. Sixteen cities/regions have participated so far (August 2013) and many others are being approached. This is an opportunity to take part in a new and innovative programme to help improve city-level water stewardship, in the spirit of smart and sustainable cities. The basic output is a simple radar chart as shown in the example from Melbourne at the top of this page. The chart provides a quick visual representation of the city’s water stewardship status, and is a tool for easy comparison between cities. It covers 24 key water-related subject areas, such as water footprint, water scarcity, water quality, drinking water availability and wastewater management. A City Blueprint is just the first step on a journey of communication and cooperation between cities. A key intention is to encourage cities to share their best practices with others, and for all to improve. A website will be developed to facilitate this. All cities are different. Some are advanced in a few or many subject areas. Some have much work to do. The aim is not to highlight failings, but instead to help a city identify areas of focus for improvement, and to learn from the best practices of others, as well as demonstrating and sharing their own best practices.

1. Sharing best practices on Urban
Water Cycle Services –
Improving Implementation Capacities
of Cities and Regions
CITY BLUEPRINTS

2. “The water crisis is a crisis in governance.
We will promote better water governance
arrangements and transparency, building on
stronger partnerships between governments,
civil society and the private sector.”
Former EU Commission President Romano Prodi
at the Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development
CITY BLUEPRINTS

3. URGENCY
Competing demands for scarce water
resources may lead to an estimated
40% supply shortage by 2030.
Source: 2030 Water Resources Group (2009)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

4. 1. WHY CITIES?
CITY BLUEPRINTS

5. WHY CITIES?
Cities are concentrated centers of production,
consumption and waste disposal that drive land
change and a host of global environmental
problems and are highly dependent on other cities
and hinterlands to supply materials (including
water), energy, and to dispose waste.
Sources:
Grimm et al., 2008. Science 319 (5864), 756-760.
Bai, 2007. Journal of Industrial Ecology 11, 1-6.
Engel et al., 2011. World Wildlife Fund, Germany.
CITY BLUEPRINTS

6. URBANISATION
Urban areas of the world are expected
to absorb all the population growth
expected over the next four decades.
By 2050, urban dwellers will likely
account for 86 % of the population in
the more developed regions and for 64
% of that in the less developed
regions
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change may worsen water
services and quality of life in cities.
WATER USE AND SCARCITY
Water withdrawals have tripled over
the last 50 years. In 2030, there will
be a 40% supply shortage of water.
SANITATION
Currently, 2.5 billion people are
without improved sanitation
facilities.
HUMAN HEALTH
Currently, 3.4 million people - mostly
children – die from water-borne
diseases every year.
HAZARDS
Water-related hazards account for
90% of all natural hazards.
CITY BLUEPRINTS

7. MAKING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURES MORE
SUSTAINABLE TO HELP DRIVE A GREEN ECONOMY
An estimated US$ 41 trillion is required to refurbish the
old and build new urban infrastructures over the period
2005–2030:
 $22.6 trillion for water systems
 $9 trillion for energy
 $7.8 trillion for road and rail infrastructure
 $1.6 trillion for air- and sea-ports
 1 trillion means 1 thousand billions (1012)
Source: UNEP City-level decoupling, 2013
CITY BLUEPRINTS

8. GOVERNANCE: PEOPLE MATTER
Governance has emerged as a concept in political science,
sustainability science and other fields as a response to the growing
awareness that governments are no longer the only relevant
actors when it comes to the management of societal issues.
(Lange et al., 2013)
As stated in the report of the European Green City Index (2009)
about three-quarters of the existing technological changes that
would help London to meet its long-term carbon reduction
targets depended on the decisions of citizens or companies,
not of governments.
Public participation, i.e. the engagement of individuals with
societies around them — or the strength of civil society in a city
— has a strong link to environmental performance (see next slide).
CITY BLUEPRINTS

9. TITLE IN VERDANA, 20-28, BOLD
Text in Verdana, bold, 16-24
“Quote in Italics’
Smaller text, sources, explanations etc., in Verdana, 12 or 14
CITY BLUEPRINTS
Source: European Green City Index, 2009

10. WATER SUPPLY: A GLOBAL RISK
Recently, the World Economic Forum identified the
water supply crisis as one of the top five global
risks for both the impact and likelihood.
This is caused by the decline in the quality and
quantity of fresh water combined with increased
competition among resource-intensive systems,
such as food and energy production.
Source: World Economic Forum, 2013
CITY BLUEPRINTS

11. WHY CITIES?
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
1. Cities are the major problem holders
2. Active civil societies incl. the private sector with visionary
local government can cope with water challenges
3. It requires a bottom-up approach and collaboration
among cities and regions by sharing best practices
(communication and collaboration on implementation)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

12. 2. GOAL?
CITY BLUEPRINTS

13. TOWARDS TRANSITIONS OF CITIES
URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT TRANSITIONS FRAMEWORK (SOURCE: BROWN ET AL. 2009)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

14. CITY BLUEPRINTS

15. 3. HOW?
CITY BLUEPRINTS

16. EARLY INVOLVEMENT OF STAKEHOLDERS
Source: ICLEI/SWITCH
CITY BLUEPRINTS

17. PLANNING CYCLE ACCORDING TO SWITCH
(MANAGING WATER IN THE CITY OF THE FUTURE)
CITY BLUEPRINTS
Source: ICLEI/SWITCH

18. PROPOSED EIP WATER ACTION:
FACILITATE STRATEGIC PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION
1. Baseline assessment (City Blueprint)
2. Inventory of best practices of cities
3. Blue City Website for sharing best practices and state-of-
the art technologies applied in cities
4. Blue City Award (annual ceremony hosted by the European
Commission)
5. Blue Friend labels for industries and their products
contributing to cost-effective improvements in UWCS
CITY BLUEPRINTS

19. 4. THE BASELINE ASSESSMENT
CITY BLUEPRINTS

20. CITY BLUEPRINTS

21. CITY BLUEPRINTS
EXAMPLES:
1. Dar es Salaam (BCI: 4.01)
2. Bucharest (BCI: 5.18)
3. Reggio Emilia (BCI: 6.60)
4. Hamburg (BCI: 7.72)
BCI = Blue City Indicator:
Arithmetic mean of 24 indicators from 0 to 10

22. Dar es Salaam (4.01)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

23. Bucharest (5.18)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

24. Reggio Emilia (6.60)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

25. Hamburg (7.72)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

26. There is a positive relation between the Blue City Index
(BCI) and the:
 Voluntary Participation Index (r = 0.727)
 UWCS ambitions and measures (r = 0.904)
 GDP according to IMF (r = 0.927)
 Government effectiveness – World Bank (r = 0.927)
 Number of Happy Life Years - Erasmus Univ. (r = 0.950)
Where, r is the Pearson correlation coefficient
RESULTS FOR ELEVEN CITIES/REGIONS
CITY BLUEPRINTS

27. CITY BLUEPRINTS

28. CITY BLUEPRINTS

29. CITY BLUEPRINTS

30. Algarve (ALG; Portugal)
Amsterdam (AMS; The Netherlands)
Athens (ATH; Greece)
Bucharest (BUC; Romania)
Dar es Salaam (DAR; Tanzania)
Hamburg (HAM; Germany)
Kilamba Kiaxi (KIL; Angola)
Oslo (OSL; Norway)
Rotterdam (ROT; The Netherlands)
Reggio Emilia (REG; Italy)
Cities of Scotland (SCO; UK)
Venlo (The Netherlands)
Maastricht (The Netherlands)
Melbourne (Australia)
15 CITIES HAVE PARTICIPATED SO FAR (JULY 2013)
Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
CITY BLUEPRINTS

31. 5. MOST IMPORTANT
CONCLUSION:
THE GREAT POTENTIAL OF
SHARING BEST PRACTICES
AMONG CITIES
CITY BLUEPRINTS

32. CITY BLUEPRINTS
SHARING BEST PRACTICES
E.g.: ENERGY NEUTRAL WASTE WATER TREATMENT
FACILITY IN THE CITY OF HAMBURG (GERMANY)

33. IMPLEMENTATION MATTERS: THE RESULT OF COMBINING
BEST PRACTICES IN 11 CITIES – BLUE CITIES
CITY BLUEPRINTS

34. 1. Megatrends (e.g. population growth, pollution, climate change) pose
urgent water challenges in cities.
2. The City Blueprint is a quick scan to benchmark UWCS.
3. City Blueprints can be used to communicate a city’s UWCS and select:
 appropriate supply and sanitation strategies.
 (non) technological options as future alternatives.
 measures for short-term and long-term investments.
4. The BCI correlates positively with the VPI, GDP, UWCS ambitions in
cities, Government Effectiveness and Happy Life Years.
5. Cities are problem holders; they can learn from each other and become
part of the UWCS solutions.
6. Blue friend labels for industries and their technologies and products
that contribute to the improvement of UWCS.
7. Need an EIP Action Group on Cities
CONCLUSIONS
CITY BLUEPRINTS

35. 1. EIP-Water Action Group on governance (City
Blueprints)
2. Extension of work on European Cities (assessment
of at least ten more cities in 2013)
3. Sharing best practices among cities
4. Workshop with EIP stakeholders (November)
5. Setting up a Blue City Website
NEXT STEPS
CITY BLUEPRINTS

36. PARTNERS
NETWERC H2O (EU) – KWR WATER CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (THE
NETHERLANDS) – FUNDACIÓ CTM CENTRE TECNOLÒGIC (SPAIN) - ADVENTECH
(PORTUGAL) – COPERNICUS INSTITUTE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT) – SIEMENS (THE NETHERLANDS) – ERRIN (EU) – RED
ARAGON 7 PM (SPAIN) – ZINNAE (SPAIN) – AMGA (ITALY) – PARAGON EUROPE
(MALTA) – USBMA (MOROCCO) – REGIONE PUGLIA (ITALY) – ACQUEDOTTO
PUGLIESE (ITALY) – AUTORITA’ IDRICA PUGLIESE (ITALY) – DE MONTFORT
UNIVERSITY (UNITED KINGDOM) –WITTEVEEN EN BOS (THE NETHERLANDS) –
DELTARES (THE NETHERLANDS) – ENEA (ITALY) – REDINN (ITALY) - LEITAT
(SPAIN) – DEMOWARE CONSORTIUM (EU) – WORLD BANK (THE USA) –
REGIONE TOSCANA (ITALY) – MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND WATER (STATE OF
ISRAEL) – EASTON WATER CONSULTING (BELGIUM)
PLEASE PARTICIPATE AND CONTACT US
CITY BLUEPRINTS
Improving Implementation Capacities of Cities and Regions
by sharing best practices on Urban Water Cycle Services

37. Richard Elelman
Head of Public Administrations at Fundació CTM
Centre Tecnològic and Administrative Director of
NETWERC H2O
Av. Bases de Manresa, 1. 08242 Manresa,
Spain
T +34 93 877 7373
F +34 93 877 73 74
M +34 608 54 55 28
E richard.elelman@ctm.com.es
W www.ctm.com.es / www.netwerch2o.eu
Skype: richardelelman
Cornelis Johannes (Kees) van Leeuwen
Chair Water Management and Urban Development
Principal Scientist at KWR Watercycle Research
Institute
P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein
The Netherlands
T +31 30 6069617
F +31 30 6061165
M +31 652041795
E kees.van.leeuwen@kwrwater.nl
W www.kwrwater.nl
Skype: leeuwke47
POLITICAL COORDINATOR TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
CITY BLUEPRINTS
Improving Implementation Capacities of Cities and Regions
by sharing best practices on Urban Water Cycle Services

38. Most of the work has been carried out within the EU Research Project TRUST
(Transitions to the Urban Water Services of Tomorrow).
We would like to thank all collaborative teams involved in the assessment of
cities by completing the questionnaire for the baseline assessment and their
feedback on earlier versions of this document:
Helena Lucas, José Gascão, Joaquim Freire, Maria João Freitas, António Jorge Monteiro,
Christos Makropoulos, Vittorio Di Federico, Thomas Giese, Kim Augustin, Niles-Peter
Bertram,Ingrid Heemskerk, Paulien Hartog, Brian Sewbaks, Jadranka Milina, Rita
Ugarelli, Paul Jeffrey, Heather Smith, George Ponton, Colin O’Neill,Gabriela Mercore,
Daniel Goedbloed, António Jorge Monteiro and Philipo Chandy. I would also like to
thank Marielle van de Zouwen, Jos Frijns, Theo van de Hoven, Peter Dane, Merijn
Schriks, Nicoline Scholman, Rui Cunha Marques, Sveinung Sagrov, and the project
leader of TRUST, i.e. David Schwesig for their major contributions to the work described
in this manuscript.
The European Commission is acknowledged for funding TRUST in the 7th Framework
Programme under Grant Agreement No. 265122.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CITY BLUEPRINTS

39. • Brown, R.R., Keath, N., Wong, T.H.F. ,2009. Urban water management in cities:
historical, current and future regimes. Water Sci. Technol. 59,847–855.
• European Green City Index 2009., Assessing the environmental impact of Europe’s
major cities. A research project conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Siemens München, Germany.
• Fleming, N., 2008. Understanding ‘what’s really going on’ as a basis for transforming
thinking, action and our cities. Paper presented at Enviro 08 Australasia’s
Environmental & Sustainability Conference & Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia.
• Lange et al., 2013. Governing towards sustainability—Conceptualizing modes of
Governance. J. Environmental Policy & Planning 15.3:403-425.
• TRUST: http://www.trust-i.net/ and http://www.trust-
i.net/downloads/index.php?iddesc=68
• SWITCH: http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/
• Van Leeuwen, C.J., Frijns, J., van Wezel, A., van de Ven, F.H.M. 2012. Water Resources
Management 26:2177-2197.
• Van Leeuwen, C.J., Chandy, P.C. 2013. The city blueprint: experiences with the
implementation of 24 indicators to assess the sustainability of the urban water cycle
Water Sci. Technol.: Water Supply 13.3: 769-781.
REFERENCES
PHOTOGRAPHS: Philip, R. et al., Module 1 - Strategic Planning & Anton, B. et al., Module 2 -
Stakeholders, SWITCH Training Kit: IUWM in the City of the Future, published by ICLEI
European Secretariat (2011) - www. switchtraining.eu.
CITY BLUEPRINTS