Towards water sensitivity: a critical review of urban water management strategies

Rapid urbanization and climate change pose unprecedented challenges to urban water systems, necessitating a holistic and integrated approach to sustainable water resource management. Few studies have focused on enabling water-sensitive development by co-creating a Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) framework with fit-for-purpose guidelines, addressing site-specific issues, knowledge, practices, and proposing new interventions and policies. This review summarizes the evolution of urban water management practices, highlighting the WSC framework as a blueprint for achieving resilient, equitable, and sustainable urban water systems. An initial search in Google Scholar and Web of Science using relevant keywords yielded 831 articles. After filtering for topic relevance, 741 articles were selected for this review. The reviewed studies cover a wide geographical range, including Global North (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Singapore, USA, and Australia) and Global South regions (India, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America). Socio-ecological factors are considered to guide the selection of appropriate technology and infrastructure. The diverse experiences and challenges in constructing WSCs are analyzed through case studies from different geographies around the globe. Additionally, the review advocates for decentralized solutions, green infrastructure, and active community engagement to ensure successful WSC implementation. The review concludes with recommendations for future research and practical applications in urban water management.