Building a water sensitive city

Tony H. F. Wong, Rebekah Brown, Peter Breen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Building a Water Sensitive City With the beginning of the 21st century, the proportion of the world's population living in urban environments surpasses that living in the rural environment. The 21st century is indeed the century of cities and urbanisation. Urban developments to support a growing community affect the land and water environments. An emerging challenge to urban communities is its design for resilience to the impact of climate change, particularly in regards to sustainable management of water resources and the protection of water environments. Integrated Urban Water Management has emerged in recent years, drawing on the view that sub-optimal outcomes have been produced from the traditional compartmentalisation of water supply, sewerage and stormwater services. This compartmentalisation has been both physical, in terms of infrastructure, and institutional in terms of responsibility for service provision, operation and maintenance, which, over time, has led to philosophical compartmentalisation and shaped perceptions of system boundaries. Integration refers to the physical system and the many players who create, maintain, and are served by urban water systems. This paper presents a framework centre on integrated urban water cycle planning and management providing the platform for water conservation and protection of aquatic environments, in building Water Sensitive Cities. The fundamental principles underpinning the transformation of urban environments into water sensitive cities include the values of intergenerational equity, a triple bottom line approach to assessment of water management options, a diverse water sources and water services infrastructure, green infrastructure embedding ecosystems services to mitigate the impact of urbanisation on the natural environment and the building of social capital characterised by a smart and sophisticated community living a sustainable lifestyle. Social capital will extend to the professionals and practitioners in the water sector, in relation to their capacity for innovation and sustainable management of the city's water resources, and to all levels of government in relation to the underpinning regulatory and administrative framework. A number of case studies from projects undertaken by the authors in Australia, Singapore and China, illustrating key principles underpinning a water sensitive city will be presented.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEcocity World Summit 2008
Publication statusPublished - 2008
EventEcocity World Summit 2008 - USA, San Francisco, United States
Duration: 22 Apr 200826 Apr 2008
https://web.archive.org/web/20100110055703/http://www.ecocityworldsummit.org/about.htm

Conference

ConferenceEcocity World Summit 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period22/04/0826/04/08
Internet address

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