Water Governance in Cities: Current Trends and Future Challenges

Abstract

Adapting water governance to changing needs, while coping with the uncertainties caused by climate change and the consequences of urbanisation and demographic growth, is key for inclusive, safe and resilient cities. The urgency of the challenges calls for innovative practices to enhance water security and provide better services to citizens, as foreseen by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The key question is: how to accomplish these objectives? While there is no doubt that technical solutions are available and play a fundamental role, they represent only part of the solution. Cities must ensure that the institutional frameworks in place are “fit to fix the pipes”, from accessible information to adequate capacity, from sufficient funding to transparency and integrity, and from meaningful stakeholder engagement to coherence across sectoral policies. Building mainly on recent studies on water governance carried out by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and specifically on urban water governance, this paper will discuss current trends and provide a set of tools for policy solutions based on OECD’s 3Ps framework: people, policies and places. It will conclude by highlighting the importance of improving monitoring and evaluation for better design and implementation of urban water governance.