Genesis For the first time in the history of the planet over 50% of the world’s population now live in cities and towns. The demands on city infrastructure and natural resources are increasing exponentially, and managing the environmental impacts of cities is a critical sustainability challenge for the next century. These urban areas are becoming increasingly important engines of social, economic and environmental development. The World Bank recognized the need for a standardized set of city indicators that track performance and allow cities to compare and contrast problems and solutions and share knowledge. Given the urgent and compelling need for a single, master system of global city indicators that measure and monitor city performance and quality of life, the Government of Japan has funded the development of this program in concert with the World Bank.
CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE AT GCIF Greenhouse gas emissions - methodology development Several indicators are available to estimate a city’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. The core quality of life (environment) indicator of ‘greenhouse gas emissions measured in tons per capita’ currently in use by GCIF is based on common existing methodology (refer to Methodology Report link on this site). However this is still not fully defined or integrated with existing similar indicators and methodologies, e.g. ICLEI’s HEAT Model. A working group with Global City Indicator Facility and World Bank participation is reviewing existing methodology and intends to propose a more comprehensive methodology for use in future data submissions. In the interim, the methodology as proposed in the Methodology Report is currently in use at GCIF.
The Program and Its Purpose Focusing on cities of over 100,000 population this Global City Indicator Program is structured around 22 “themes” into two categories that measure a range of city services and quality of life factors. It is a decentralized, city-driven initiative that enables cities to measure, report, and improve their own performance and to facilitate capacity building and sharing of best practices among cities through the use of indicators and a web-based relational database. In a world currently awash with surplus private investment capital and a growing scarcity of public investment capital, the ready availability of a globally comprehensive and reliable set of city indicators is indispensable to capital providers (public and private) in identifying investment opportunities, managing risk, and allocating capital so as to maximize return on investment.
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