Ahead of World Water Day 2015, Singapore, with a well-protected and clean water supply has been named the top Asian city in water sustainability development. Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul are the three Asian cities which have the highest drinking water and sanitation standards, according to the recently launched Sustainable City Index 2015 by Arcadis.
Cities in China and emerging South East Asian countries including Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Manila and Jakarta are facing tough challenges in water sustainability, with issues mainly being related to urbanisation. Asian cities occupied seven of the bottom ten places on drinking water and sanitation global ranking in Arcadis Sustainable City Index 2015.
Kuala Lumpur ranked slightly higher in comparison to other South East Asian cities at number thirty three. According to the United Nations, every week, one million people move into cities around the world. With populations moving into cities at such a fast pace, water supplies in emerging Asian cities are facing many problems in terms of source & sanitation, with water supplies shrinking and at risk of major disasters, such as water contamination or shortage.
Paul Porée, Asia Regional Leader, Water at Arcadis said: “The United Nations has projected that another 2.5 billion people will move to urban centres by 2050. Managing the impact that urbanisation has on water infrastructure is critical in ensuring the sustainability of our cities, especially in emerging parts of Asia where the pace is the quickest. Providing citizens access to clean water and building adequate flood prevention systems needs to be two of the key areas to focus on for government and city authorities in some of the fast-growing centres.”
