Makra, L., Horváth, Sz., Sümeghy, Z., 2002: An objective analysis and ranking of cities on environmental and social factors. IGU 2002. Geographical Renaissance at the Dawn of the Millennium. Durban, South-Africa, 2002. In: Climates in Transition (Nkemdirim, L.C. ed.), Minuteman Press, pp. 161 -172. An objective analysis and ranking of cities on environmental and social factors Makra, L., Horváth, Sz. and Sümeghy, Z. Department of Climatology and Landscape Ecology, University of Szeged, H-6701 Szeged, P.O.B. 653, Hungary; e-mail: makra@geo.u-szeged.hu ; lupo@geo.u-szeged.hu; sumeghy@geo.u-szeged.hu 1. Introduction In Hungary, 236 cities accounting for 65.7 percent of the country’s population, were registered on January 1, 2001. Environmental factors in cities such as housing, transportation, air quality and public green space, etc., are important to the quality of life. But which cities have cleaner air, more urban parkland, or more pleasant climate? Which do a better job at organising traffic systems, waste management or public sanitation? Which cities are wasteful in their use of water or energy? To answer these questions, at least at a preliminary level, the so-called “Green Cities Index” which ranks cities on several environmental criteria, was developed (Cutter, S.L., 1992). Ranking cities according to their environmental quality and level of environmental awareness is not a simple task. Over the years, many quality-of-life rankings comparing countries or cities, have appeared in special literature (Kerényi, A., 1995), although few have focused on environmental criteria (e.g. Cutter, S.L., 1992; Kerényi, A., 1995). In this study, 25 environmental indicators were initially considered for each of the 236 Hungarian cities. Indicators, which were not shared by all cities were subsequently omitted. As well, the cities were ranked by population and population density. However, these two parameters were not included for ranking according to the Green Cities Index, since larger and more densely populated cities do not necessarily have poorer environmental quality. Because environmental regulations in many cities have become increasingly more stringent, part of the data used in this study may be obsolete by publication date. Consequently, Green Cities Index rankings should be viewed as a measure of environmental quality and concern at a given point in time. The data basis for the study are drawn from the statistical yearbooks of Hungarian counties and Budapest for 2000. 2. Environmental indicators Seven different categories of environmental indicators ranging from water consumption to air quality were included in the Green Cities Index. Specific measures within each category were selected on the basis of data availability. Some related measures were combined to yield new, composite measures. Altogether 25 indicators were considered initially but only 19 were retained. The seven categories and their 19 indicator elements, are listed in Table 1. Data on all 19 indicators are available for only 88 of the 236 cities in the data base. Hence, further analyses are based on those 88. Though these indicators are neither perfect nor exhaustive, they enable an overall comparison among the relevant cities.