Abstract
Urban water systems in industrialized countries have underpinned unprecedented improvements in urban living standards through effective drinking water supply, sanitation and drainage. However, conventional urban water systems are increasingly regarded as too rigid and not sufficiently resilient to confront growing social, technological and environmental complexity and uncertainty, manifested, for example, in the maladaptation to climate change, depletion of nonrenewable resources, and degrading urban livability. In response, a new urban water paradigm has emerged in the last two decades within the context of a broader societal change that promotes a more organic worldview over the classical mechanistic and technocratic understanding of reality. This article develops and applies an analytical framework to coherently describe the new paradigm and contrast it with the old urban water paradigm. The framework includes a philosophical foundation and set of methodological principles that shape the new paradigm’s approach to governance, management, and infrastructure.
Highlights
The provision of water supply, sanitation and urban drainage services to households, businesses and communities has led to unprecedented improvements in life expectancy, economic growth, and quality of life in industrialized countries during the last 150 years
That a broader enactment of the new urban water paradigm could be accelerated with a better understanding of the paradigm itself, and an integrated definition of its constituent elements, which so far remain dispersed and fragmented in the literature
The articulation of the new paradigm that we provide may offer concrete guidance for action and decision making to these actors when defining the types of governance arrangements, management systems, and infrastructures needed to improve the sustainability of urban water systems (UWSs) in complex contexts; namely, promoting variety, integration, distribution and constant learning
Summary
The provision of water supply, sanitation and urban drainage services to households, businesses and communities has led to unprecedented improvements in life expectancy, economic growth, and quality of life in industrialized countries during the last 150 years. These services have relied on a system of social structures and material infrastructures—referred to in Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at publisher’s website. Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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