Articulating the new urban water paradigm

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.

Addressing the adaptive challenges of alternative stormwater planning

“…According to Franco-Torres et al (2020), there is broad agreement about a new paradigm for urban water systems that can be seen as a local expression of a broader societal transformation attempting to adapt to a more complex and dynamic reality. In this new paradigm, stormwater is a valuable resource contributing to improving urban qualities (Franco-Torres et al, 2020). Reconceptualizing stormwater from a challenge to a resource can also transform the organizational practices in the climate adaptation field (Meilvang, 2021).…”

“…It further requires new forms of collaboration by various actors and sectors, creating potential conflicts of interest and new planning challenges (Kati & Jari, 2016;Lund, 2018). Franco-Torres et al (2020) describe the shift to alternative stormwater management as part of a new urban water paradigm, addressing growing social, technological, and environmental complexity and uncertainty. Although a considerable body of literature explores a range of technical, institutional, and financial barriers to implementing alternative stormwater measures (Dhakal & Chevalier, 2017;Jiang et al, 2017;Matthews et al, 2015;Meerow & Newell, 2017;O'Donnell et al, 2017;Qiao et al, 2019;Thorne et al, 2018;Wihlborg et al, 2019), the shift requires a deeper understanding of the holistic and flexible approaches to stormwater management (Alexandre, 2018;Bohman et al, 2020).…”

“…O 'Brien and Selboe (2015) argue that even if a growing adaptation literature explores the factors, capacities, and processes contributing to successful adaptation, there is still a significant mismatch between current adaptation strategies and the full scope of the climate change problem. The slow implementation of alternative blue-green stormwater solutions (Jiang et al, 2017;Wihlborg et al, 2019) and the rigidity and change-resistance in traditional urban water paradigms (Franco-Torres et al, 2020) are examples of such a mismatch. O' Brien and Selboe (2015) hold that addressing adaptive elements of climate change (e.g.…”

Stakeholder Engagement in the Generation of Urban Ecosystem Services: The Case of the Vuores Stormwater System

“…Instead, urban nature is frequently equated with stable green areas set aside from human impact, which is too narrow an understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem services in cities (Puppim de Oliveira et al, 2011). Research has only very recently analysed what kind of new conceptualizations of urban nature are needed, for instance in new water paradigms in cities (Franco-Torres et al, 2020) or how business organizations can contribute to the generation of 'new' urban natures, often called nature-based solutions (Kooijman et al, 2021).…”

Development of a Multicriteria Scheme for the Identification of Strategic Areas for SUDS Implementation: A Case Study from Gijón, Spain

“…Traditional urban stormwater management could be described as a single-objective oriented design with the aim to rapidly drain runoff water triggered during a rainfall event to the receiving environment or the treatment system [16,17]. However, when a high intensity rainfall event occurs, there is usually an imbalance between the capacity of the conventional drainage system and the amount of surface runoff generated, leading to an increased risk of flooding, especially in large urbanized areas with a high population density [18]. Moreover, this scenario contributes to a deterioration of the water quality in cities and, consequently, causes a reduction in the quality of receiving natural waters, particularly during the first flush event [19].…”