Assessing climate resilience in urban water and wastewater sectors; Application of the water sensitive cities Index to Turkish cities

International Climate Resilience Conference, Munich, Almanya, 26 - 29 Ekim 2025, (Özet Bildiri)

1.14 Assessing climate resilience in urban water and wastewater sectors:

Application of the Water Sensitive Cities Index to Turkish cities

 Goksen Capar (Ankara University - Water Management Institute, gcapar@ankara.edu.tr)

 Gul Ozerol (Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences - University of Twente

 Tolga Pilevneli (Ankara University - Water Management Institute )

Climate change is a major problem affecting rural and urban areas, particularly cities, which have

become key players in climate action. As climate change intensifies, cities are increasingly experiencing

challenges such as flooding, drought, sea level rise, and water scarcity, depending on their location,

infrastructure, population, and socio-economic conditions. Additionally, cities contribute to climate

change due to their spatial concentration of assets, people, and economic activities. The necessity for

adaptive water management systems has emerged as cities need to transition towards becoming

climate resilient by taking steps in climate change adaptation (CCA). The development of frameworks

for assessing resilience requires coordination across multiple sectors to effectively manage water

resources amid climate change. As part of the Urban Water Transitions Framework, the water sensitive

cities (WSC) index provides such a perspective, by assessing the status of cities across six states (Water

Supply City, Sewered City, Drained City, Waterways City, Water Cycle City, and Water Sensitive City).

The WSC index combines nature-based and sustainable designs with engineering structures to

establish resilient systems for urban water management.

This study aims to support local authorities in enhancing their climate resilience in the water and

wastewater sectors within the context of CCA in Türkiye. The WSC index was adapted for self-

assessment by Turkish municipalities, building on and tailoring existing approaches. The index consists

of 21 main indicators, covering three pillars and seven goals, and scores from one (least desirable state)

to six (most desirable state). Eight pilot cities applied the index by scoring the indicators and also

providing feedback on their relevance and feasibility. Currently, a web-based tool is being developed for

the application of the index by a large group of target users.

The assessment results show that the average scores vary between 2.2 and 3.4 for all goals. The

average scores vary between 2.8 and 3.5 for metropolitan cities and 0.8 and 3.3 for small-sized cities.

Among seven goals, the goals on the quality of urban space, productivity, resource efficiency, and good

water governance had the lowest scores. The metropolitan cities scored lowest for the goal on

productivity and resource efficiency rather than good water governance. The highest variation was

observed in socio-political targets such as ensuring quality urban space, increasing the community

capital, and achieving equity of essential services, respectively. The lowest variation was observed in

indicators regarding ensuring good water-sensitive governance, improving productivity and resource

efficiency, and promoting adaptive infrastructures.

The scores show that the pilot cities focus on traditional water and wastewater services, such as water

supply, sewerage, water and wastewater treatment, and flood protection. The pilot cities provide

services that are in line with the requirements of Water Supply City, Sewered City, Drained City, and

Waterways City. The cities need to take planning and adaptation actions towards transitioning to the

states of Water Cycle City and Water Sensitive City. The integration of CCA practices to UWM in pilot

cities requires adaptive and multifunctional infrastructures to promote ecological health and quality urban

spaces. Therefore, the pilot municipalities need to improve their capacities to provide climate-adaptive

water and wastewater services to their citizens.

Acknowledgments: Funded by the EU-CCAGP via the project “An Urban Water Resilience Approach to

Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation in Turkish Cities (EuropeAid /170484/ID/ACT/TR/CCAGP311)”.