Chicago respondents are 'moderately satisfied' with their city’s infrastructure, with a Satisfaction index score of 6.6 out of 10 — ranking slightly higher than average for all city-dwellers surveyed in our report and higher than any other city surveyed in North America.

A transport reliability score of 6.3 puts Chicagoans above the average for all cities surveyed (6.1) in terms of satisfaction, and Chicago ranked in line with the average for transport affordability (6.1). Upgrading public transportation was ranked one of the top priorities for Chicago respondents for future infrastructure improvements.

Chicago’s Engagement index is low at 2.7 out of 10, and this score puts Chicago below the average global index of 3.3 — along with Hong Kong and Sydney. Globally, over one-third (34%) of survey respondents have had no interaction at all with public transportation providers in the past year.

Continuing with public transportation, in the 10 surveyed cities, it was felt that the opportunities that do exist for better interaction are often wasted through a lack of attention to basic details. For example, no more than 36% of respondents feel that the authorities are clear when requesting citizen feedback about public transportation issues. Such clarity is particularly low, judging by the responses in North American cities including Chicago, which is 27% in agreement.

Chicagoans are 'moderately satisfied' overall with their city’s level of innovation in infrastructure and services, however, their index score (5.9) still falls below the average for all cities surveyed (6.2). Chicago respondents ranked solar power, fiber-optic broadband, smart (digital) electricity meters installed in homes and fast rail connections to the airport as the top four technologies that will positively impact their quality of life in the future.

Citizens identified driverless vehicles, along with social media payment channels and virtual/augmented reality as the three technologies likely to have the least impact on their quality of life.

The Resilience index for Chicago is 5.5, which is slightly below the average score of all cities surveyed at 5.7. Just under half of residents (46%) are confident in the city government's ability to protect infrastructure from natural disasters, and 35% from terrorism. Protection against the impacts of natural disasters ranked fifth in terms of Chicago respondents’ priorities for future infrastructure improvements, just behind protection against cyberattacks in fourth place. 

Residents identified improving environmental sustainability (recycling, wastewater re-use, solar power), upgrading of utilities, and upgrading public transportation as the three most important infrastructure improvements.