BOOK
Water and Cities
(2015)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
This report focuses on the urban water management challenges facing cities across OECD countries, and explores both national and local policy responses with respect to water-risk exposure, the state of urban infrastructures and dynamics, and institutional and governance architectures. The analyses focus on four mutually dependent dimensions – finance, innovation, urban-rural co-operation and governance – and proposes a solutions-oriented typology based on urban characteristics. The report underlines that sustainable urban water management will depend on collaboration across different tiers of government working together with local initiatives and stakeholders.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Table of contents | 7 | ||
| Abbreviations | 11 | ||
| Executive summary | 13 | ||
| Emerging challenges for water management in OECD countries | 13 | ||
| Four questions to set urban water management on a sustainable path | 13 | ||
| Lessons learnt from the transition of selected cities towards a new era | 14 | ||
| Chapter 1: A framework for city-level water management | 17 | ||
| Introduction | 19 | ||
| Water-related risks to cities in OECD countries | 19 | ||
| Water scarcity | 20 | ||
| Floods | 22 | ||
| Pollution | 23 | ||
| The resilience of freshwater ecosystems | 25 | ||
| Ageing infrastructure | 26 | ||
| Global projections for financing needs for urban water infrastructure | 27 | ||
| France | 28 | ||
| Japan | 30 | ||
| The United States | 31 | ||
| Institutional changes affecting urban water governance | 31 | ||
| National and international regulations | 32 | ||
| Administrative and territorial reforms | 33 | ||
| A new attention to stakeholder engagement | 34 | ||
| A framework for urban water management | 34 | ||
| Financing | 37 | ||
| Innovation | 37 | ||
| The urban-rural interface | 38 | ||
| Water governance | 38 | ||
| Alternative scenarios for urban water management | 39 | ||
| Clustering cities and policy responses to water management | 40 | ||
| A working definition of cities | 40 | ||
| A typology of cities for water management | 41 | ||
| Tailoring responses to risks | 43 | ||
| Beyond cities: A role for other tiers of government | 44 | ||
| Notes | 46 | ||
| Annex 1.A1: Two city typologies relevant to water management | 48 | ||
| Note | 49 | ||
| References | 50 | ||
| Chapter 2: Financing urban water management | 55 | ||
| Introduction | 57 | ||
| Financing constraints in cities in OECD countries | 57 | ||
| Revenues from water tariffs | 58 | ||
| Taxes (transfers from public budgets) | 62 | ||
| Transfers from the international community | 63 | ||
| Repayable finance | 63 | ||
| Options to minimise costs | 64 | ||
| Tapping efficiency gains in asset management | 64 | ||
| Exploiting low-cost water sources | 65 | ||
| Amalgamating urban water management | 67 | ||
| Water tariffs contribute to water resource management | 69 | ||
| Innovative tariff structures | 70 | ||
| Social sustainability of water pricing | 71 | ||
| Diversified revenue streams | 73 | ||
| Innovative business models for water utilities | 73 | ||
| Fiscal instruments targeting specific externalities | 75 | ||
| A role for private investors | 78 | ||
| Private-sector participation in urban water management | 78 | ||
| Opportunities to access equity finance | 78 | ||
| Harnessing property developers to invest in water systems | 81 | ||
| Notes | 83 | ||
| Annex 2.A1: Financing urban water management in Korea | 85 | ||
| Water demand and expenditure in Korean cities | 85 | ||
| Financing WSS in Korean cities | 87 | ||
| Notes | 88 | ||
| References | 89 | ||
| Chapter 3: Supporting the diffusion of innovative pathways for urban water management | 93 | ||
| Introduction | 95 | ||
| Opportunities for disruptive technical innovations | 95 | ||
| Smart water systems | 95 | ||
| Zooming in: How smart meters affect urban water management | 97 | ||
| Policies to support SMW diffusion | 98 | ||
| Localised sanitation and drainage at source | 99 | ||
| Localised sanitation | 99 | ||
| Decentralised rainwater collection and drainage | 100 | ||
| Policy implications | 102 | ||
| Distributed systems | 103 | ||
| The benefits of non-technical innovations | 104 | ||
| Combining a variety of water sources | 104 | ||
| Green infrastructures | 106 | ||
| Water-sensitive urban design | 107 | ||
| Barriers to the diffusion of innovation for urban water management | 109 | ||
| Common barriers to disruptive technologies | 109 | ||
| Specific barriers to distributed system diffusion | 111 | ||
| Barriers to diffusing green infrastructures | 112 | ||
| Overcoming barriers to innovative urban water management | 113 | ||
| Synergies with other policies | 113 | ||
| Combining policy instruments | 113 | ||
| Adjusting urban water governance | 114 | ||
| Opportunities deriving from the current financial crisis | 114 | ||
| Notes | 115 | ||
| References | 115 | ||
| Chapter 4: Urban-rural co-operation for water management | 119 | ||
| Introduction | 121 | ||
| Managing competition between urban and rural areas to access water | 123 | ||
| Policy objectives and responses | 123 | ||
| Command-and-control instruments: Technology standards and rationing policies | 124 | ||
| Water conservation measures | 127 | ||
| Economic instruments: Water pricing and tradable water rights | 128 | ||
| Groundwater conservation policies | 131 | ||
| Mitigating flood risks in urban areas | 134 | ||
| Water quality standards and PES | 136 | ||
| Policy responses | 137 | ||
| Implementation issues | 141 | ||
| Scale of urban water policies and implication for rural-urban co-operation | 141 | ||
| Implementing rural-urban policies | 142 | ||
| Notes | 145 | ||
| References | 146 | ||
| Chapter 5: Governance for urban water management | 151 | ||
| Preliminary remark | 153 | ||
| Governance challenges to urban water management | 153 | ||
| Accountability | 161 | ||
| Governance arrangements for urban water management | 162 | ||
| Metropolitan governance | 162 | ||
| Establishing dedicated regulatory bodies | 166 | ||
| The emergence of dedicated water regulators | 166 | ||
| Why are they established? | 167 | ||
| What do water regulators do? | 167 | ||
| Stakeholder engagement | 168 | ||
| Note | 171 | ||
| Annex 5.A1: Characterisation of respondents to the OECD Survey on urban water governance | 172 | ||
| Annex 5.A2: Regulators who responded to the OECD survey on the Governance of Water Regulators | 174 | ||
| Annex 5.A3: Typology of regulatory functions for WSS | 175 | ||
| References | 176 | ||
| Glossary | 177 |