ABSTRACT
In urban areas (towns, cities and megacities), water is influential in supporting human health and economic activity. Providing water supply, sewerage and drainage services is intertwined with the social and physical context of the location. Conventional approaches to urban water management have mainly comprised large, centralised infrastructure with large, centralised management organisations. Future urban water management approaches will involve smaller scale infrastructure and more diverse governance approaches. These approaches will also cope with increased population growth, vulnerability and climate change. The impacts of climate change will be keenly felt in cities, sometimes causing floods and other times, causing drought. Community groups and organisations have taken an active role in water governance, which enables challenges facing urban water management in the Global South to be addressed and local contexts understood. Future pathways may enable cities in the Global South to “leapfrog” and avoid the negative environmental, social and economic impacts of conventional water management approaches. The opportunities to realise improved development in urban areas will involve multiple stakeholders and varied strategies and solutions at different scales.
