A new operational approach for understanding water-related interactions to achieve water sustainability in growing cities
Torres López, Susana (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Barrionuevo, Maria de los Angeles (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador)
Rodríguez-Labajos, Beatriz (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	About 56 percent of the world's population currently lives in cities. Anthropogenic activities have both directly and indirectly modified their environment. Therefore, management actions at the urban level determine whether or not cities are heading toward sustainability. Consequently, water management is in need of a clear insight of the social and ecological water-related interactions. Thus, a new operational approach is proposed for a better understanding of the interactions between the water cycle, cities and the society. In our approach, eleven key issues and their interactions emerge from an analysis of 371 documents published between 2012 and 2018. The interactions between different key issues were examined through four main foci of analysis: water resources, urban throughput, water equity, and water governance and financing. Those main foci help to comprehend water as a holistic element intertwined in urban areas. In addition, our approach provides six challenges to guide the stakeholders in decision-making processes: how to recognize, integrate, and/or restore water-related ecosystem services, how to maintain and improve the supporting green and blue spaces, how to guarantee the quality and quantity of water resources and the water supplied and used, how to ensure public and social health and well-being of the citizens, how to prevent and manage water-related conflicts, and how to make informed and equitable decisions on water management at urban level?.
Grants:	European Commission 797444
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Water resources ; Cities ; Urban sustainability ; Water management
Published in:	Environment, development and sustainability, Vol. 25 (2023) , p. 122-137, ISSN 1573-2975

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-02045-0

16 p, 1.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles