TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrated Water Resources Management in Cities in the World: Global Challenges
AU - Grison, Chloé
AU - Koop, Steven Hendrik Andreas
AU - Eisenreich, Steven J.
AU - Hofman, Jan
AU - Chang, I-Shing
AU - Wu, Jing
AU - Savic, Dragan
AU - van Leeuwen, Kees
N1 - Data Availability
The authors declare that all the data supporting the findings of this study are included in its Supplementary Information.
PY - 2023/3/22
Y1 - 2023/3/22
N2 - Water scarcity and accessibility remain persistently amongst the most prominent global challenges. Although there is a wide agreement among international organizations that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and water governance are key to overcome water-related challenges, global assessments of the progress made by cities is lacking. This paper for the first time analyses the challenges of water, wastewater, municipal solid waste and climate change in cities. We used empirical studies (125 cities) based on the City Blueprint Approach and developed a statistical estimation model to estimate IWRM performances of another 75 cities. These 200 cities in total represent more than 95% of the global urban population. This comprehensive global picture enables us to evaluate the existing gaps in achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). The best performing cities were Amsterdam and Singapore. Unfortunately, most cities do not yet manage their water resources wisely and are far from achieving the SDGs. For instance, targets regarding drinking water supply are still a challenge for many cities in Africa and Asia and challenges regarding sanitation are high in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same holds for solid waste management, climate adaptation, and people living in informal settlements. In another paper we will address the solution pathways to these global challenges.
AB - Water scarcity and accessibility remain persistently amongst the most prominent global challenges. Although there is a wide agreement among international organizations that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and water governance are key to overcome water-related challenges, global assessments of the progress made by cities is lacking. This paper for the first time analyses the challenges of water, wastewater, municipal solid waste and climate change in cities. We used empirical studies (125 cities) based on the City Blueprint Approach and developed a statistical estimation model to estimate IWRM performances of another 75 cities. These 200 cities in total represent more than 95% of the global urban population. This comprehensive global picture enables us to evaluate the existing gaps in achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). The best performing cities were Amsterdam and Singapore. Unfortunately, most cities do not yet manage their water resources wisely and are far from achieving the SDGs. For instance, targets regarding drinking water supply are still a challenge for many cities in Africa and Asia and challenges regarding sanitation are high in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same holds for solid waste management, climate adaptation, and people living in informal settlements. In another paper we will address the solution pathways to these global challenges.
KW - Blue City Index
KW - Estimation model
KW - Integrated water management
KW - Sustainability indicators
KW - Water governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150473551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11269-023-03475-3
DO - 10.1007/s11269-023-03475-3
M3 - Article
SN - 0920-4741
JO - Water Resources Management
JF - Water Resources Management
ER -