Creating water sensitive cities in Australia: The strengths and weaknesses of current governance approaches

This paper details the outcomes of a qualitative, social science research project, drawing on insights from Australian urban water practitioners (n=90) across three Australian cities to explore the contemporary urban water governance context. The aim of this research is to provide guidance for shifting towards a water sensitive city (WSC) by showing that different components of governance strategies are more/less appropriate for achieving a WSC. The perceived effectiveness and 'fit' of current urban water governance strategies were explored by utilising a recently constructed fit-for-purpose governance framework. The fit-for-purpose governance framework helps assess whether the (anticipated) outcomes match the intended purposes of proposed and applied governance strategies. The research provides important insights regarding the need for a mix of centralised and decentralised, and formal and informal, governance approaches to support effective governance of water infrastructure operating across different scales. Thus, the different stages of transitioning to a water sensitive city will require different configurations of centralised/decentralised and formal/informal governance processes.