Ward Quality Score (WQS)

Overview

Through this benchmarking initiative we aim to deliver an objective measure of the quality of life experienced by citizens in each of Bangalore’s 198 wards. To this end, we carry out a 6-month survey of the city’s infrastructure and services, and analyze these findings.

Data was collected through ground survey and spatial analysis and was assessed against national and international benchmarks to yield scores on a scale of 1 to 10. This scoring system makes it easy to see at a glance the quality of any given ward’s infrastructure and delivery of services. With this benchmark, we aim to inform ward-level budgetary allocations with the ultimate goal of transforming urban quality of life across areas that affect all urban citizens. Further, our goal is to empower citizens and elected representatives by giving them objective data to help drive the demand for better quality of life.

What Do We Do?

We classify this data under five major categories, defined as key determinants of urban quality of life.

Data was collected through ground survey and spatial analysis and was assessed against national and international benchmarks to yield scores on a scale of 1 to 10. This scoring system makes it easy to see at a glance the quality of any given ward’s infrastructure and delivery of services. With this benchmark, we aim to inform ward-level budgetary allocations with the ultimate goal of transforming urban quality of life across areas that affect all urban citizens. Further, our goal is to empower citizens and elected representatives by giving them objective data to help drive the demand for better quality of life.

Ward Quality Score Methodology

WQS 2013 involved 6 months of ground survey and spatial analysis to assess 23 indicators under the 5 categories of Water, Environment, Sanitation, Mobility and Public Amenities. A field survey team of 55 surveyors visited and assessed all 198 wards of Bengaluru.

Data was collected using tablet devices and digital survey forms that geo-coded each survey location and allowed real-time transmission of data from the field to the office. The project was supported by a global team of volunteers that monitored progress and checked for errors. Surveyors were also equipped with water quality test kits, lux meters, sound meters and air pollution sensors.

Over 55,000 data points were collected, analysed and assessed against pre-defined benchmarks to arrive at WQSs 2013. Benchmarks were defined taking into account national and global standards and practices. The five categories of Water, Environment, Sanitation, Public Amenities and Mobility have a total of 23 ward-level and 3 city-level indicators.

Each indicator score was arrived at using a specially constructed formula and a category score is computed as an average of all indicator scores under it. For example, in the case of Mobility, the indicators were Quality of Footpaths, Safe Pedestrian Crossing, Adequacy of Street-lighting, Quality of Road Surface, Functional Signs and Signals, Coverage, Access to Information and Crowding of Public Transport etc. The final category score for Mobility is an average of these individual indicator scores.

The WQS 2013 was calculated by taking an average of its performance across all 5 categories.

Ward Quality Score 2013 Databook

The WQS 2013 Databook contains both insights from WQS 2013 as well as scores and names of all 198 wards of Bengaluru. The Databook includes analyses of WQSs 2013 by category, key indicators and Top and Bottom Wards and ACs.

Further, WQSs have been overlaid with population data. While Census data analysis is over a 10 year period, WQSs have been compared over a 3 year period. Census data indicates that the population of Bengaluru increased from 5.8 million in 2001 to 8.4 million in 2011 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.8%. It is therefore important to understand WQSs within the context of demographic transition.