Impediments and constraints in the uptake of water sensitive urban design measures in greenfield and infill developments

Abstract

Water sensitive urban developments are designed with integrated urban water management concepts and water sensitive urban design measures. The initiatives that may be included are the substitution of imported drinking water with alternative sources using a fit-for-purpose approach and structural and non-structural measures for the source control of stormwater. A water sensitive approach to urban development can help in achieving sustainability objectives by minimising disturbance to ecological and hydrological processes, and also relieve stress on conventional water systems. Water sensitive urban developments remain novel in comparison with conventional approaches, so the understanding and knowledge of the systems in regards to their planning; design; implementation; operation and maintenance; health impacts and environmental impacts is still developing and thus the mainstream uptake of these approaches faces many challenges. A study has been conducted to understand these challenges through a detailed literature review, investigating a large number of local greenfield and infill developments, and conducting extensive consultation with water professionals. This research has identified the social, economic, political, institutional and technological challenges faced in implementing water sensitive urban design in greenfield and infill developments. The research found in particular that there is the need for long-term monitoring studies of water sensitive urban developments. This monitoring is important to validate the performance of novel approaches implemented and improve associated guidelines, standards, and regulatory and governance frameworks, which can lead to mainstream acceptance of water sensitive urban development approaches. The dissemination of this research will help generate awareness among water professionals, water utilities, developers, planners and regulators of the research challenges to be addressed in order to achieve more mainstream acceptance of water sensitive approaches to urban development. This study is based on existing water sensitive urban developments in Australia, however, the methodology adopted in investigating impediments to the uptake of these developments can be applied globally. It is hoped that insights from this study will benefit water professionals in other countries where there is also a move towards water sensitive urban development.

Risks and tensions in water industry innovation: understanding adoption of decentralised water systems from a socio-technical transitions perspective

“…Research attention has been devoted to understanding the drivers and barriers to adoption of decentralised systems within the broad sustainable urban water management (SUWM) paradigm (Brown and Farrelly, 2009;Naylor et al, 2012;Sharma et al, 2012). This research parallels studies on adoption of distributed energy options (e.g., Allen et al, 2008) and microgrids (e.g., Soshinskaya et al, 2014).…”

An Overview of Hybrid Water Supply Systems in the Context of Urban Water Management: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Increased concentration of contaminants in wastewater has been known to cause sewer problems, such as sewer blockage, odor and corrosion [35]. Therefore, whilst the investment in decentralized water system technologies can be warranted for developments in growth areas of cities, assessing the impacts of decentralized systems on the existing developments remains challenging due to the lack of understanding of the interaction between decentralized and centralized systems [35,36]. Further adoption of the decentralized systems has thus far been limited to demonstration projects [37].…”

“…On the other hand, such transition of traditional urban water system to hybrid water supply systems have significant effects on central networks [13], particularly the sewage network and storm water drains. The use of decentralized water supply options changes both the wastewater and stormwater flow regimes and contaminants' composition [36,93,98]. Thus it can be argued that while these hybrid water supply systems seem to be promising, there are some inherent challenges such as public acceptance, particularly for new technologies and unfamiliar practices (e.g., greywater recycling), unknown impacts, understanding the interaction between centralized and decentralized services and diverse infrastructure management.…”

Water Sensitive Urban Design: An Investigation of Current Systems, Implementation Drivers, Community Perceptions and Potential to Supplement Urban Water Services

“…Such a definition and drivers for decentralised systems also aligns to the WSUD philosophy. Sharma et al [6] also highlighted the key impediments to greater WSUD uptake including inadequacy and fragmentation of current governance, regulation and guidelines for WSUD; lack of skills and knowledge; potential for increased public health risk; and, poor financial incentives. Similarly, Sapkota et al [7] has identified gaps in knowledge for the interactions between centralised conventional and alternative systems.…”