Summary of the “Asian Green City Index”

Singapore – Source: lunchmag.com

A expert panel selected by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of The Economist magazine and Siemens AG ranked 22 major urban centers of Asia  in 2011, by utilizing an eight category green city index. The index categories include:

• Energy and carbon dioxide
• Transport
• Water
• Air quality
• Land use and buildings
• Waste
• Sanitation
• Environmental government

While most of the cities individual ranking(s) varied by category, here’s a look at how they were rated overall by using the Asian Green City Index:

Well above average

Singapore, Singapore

Above average

Hong Kong, China

Osaka, Japan

Seoul, South Korea

Taipei, Taiwan

Tokyo, Japan

Yokohama, Japan

Average

Bangkok, Thailand

Beijing, China

Delhi, India

Guangzhou, China

Jakarta, Indonesia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nanjing, China

Shanghai, China

Wuhan, China

Below average

Bengaluru (Bangalore), India

Hanoi, Vietnam

Kolkata (Calcutta), India

Manila, Philippines

Mumbai (Bombay), India

Well below average

Karachi, Pakistan

Guangzhou, China – Source: search.com

Kudos to Singapore for doing so well in the report. Some of the key overall findings of the study include the following:

• The wealthier cities tended to perform better on the index, but policy implementation made a big difference.
• “At a certain level, resource consumption does not continue to rise with income.”
• “When resources are limited, attitudes make a difference.”
• “Living conditions in Asian cities varies enormously.”
• “Asian cities produce less waste per capita than Europe and Latin America, but waste collection is less effective.”
• The widest performance gap between the Asian cities was in the sanitation category.

Kolkata, India – Source: destination360.com

As with the previous indexes, the extent of detail and research that went into preparing the study is truly exceptional. Just like the Latin America and African reports, all environmental and urban planners should find this study of burgeoning Asian urban areas to be a very useful and insightful resource. Here is a direct weblink to the Asian report.