Managing Urban Rivers

Managing Urban Rivers: From Planning to Practice captures the different facets of river management required for integrating rivers within the development landscape of cities in a sustainable manner. Sections cover the entire spectrum of urban river management, from planning to actual on-the-ground implementation, providing a one-stop destination for knowledge on urban river management. Edited by a team of four experts with practical experience in this domain, the different chapters of the book are authored by eminent scholars and practitioners with expertise in specific areas of urban river management. Urban rivers and their management is a hot topic as governments across the world are focusing on this aspect, especially since it has direct implications for SDG target 6.6, which aims to “protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes . Presents practical, global case studies in almost every chapter Provides recommendations for best practices, based on lessons from different successful case studies, as well as the expert insights of the authors Features contributions from global experts for a unique and specialized approach to the topic of urban rivers

Urban Rivers examines urban interventions on rivers through politics, economics, sanitation systems, technology, and societies; how rivers affected urbanization spatially, in infrastructure, territorial disputes, and in floodplains, and via their changing ecologies. Providing case studies from Vienna to Manitoba, the chapters assemble geographers and historians in a comparative survey of how cities and rivers interacted from the seventeenth century to the present. Rising cities and industries were great agents of social and ecological changes, particularly during the nineteenth century, when mass populations and their effluents were introduced to river environments. Accumulated pollution and disease mandated the transfer of wastes away from population centers. In many cases, potable water for cities now had to be drawn from distant sites. These developments required significant infrastructural improvements, creating social conflicts over land jurisdiction and affecting the lives and livelihood of nonurban populations. The effective reach of cities extended and urban space was remade. By the mid-twentieth century, new technologies and specialists emerged to combat the effects of industrialization. Gradually, the health of urban rivers improved. From protoindustrial fisheries, mills, and transportation networks, through industrial hydroelectric plants and sewage systems, to postindustrial reclamation and recreational use, Urban Rivers documents how Western societies dealt with the needs of mass populations while maintaining the viability of their natural resources. The lessons drawn from this study will be particularly relevant to today's emerging urban economies situated along rivers and waterways.

The history of urban development is associated with the degradation of rivers - the deterioration of water quality, increased flooding, and the loss of ecological resources. The story of urban streams and rivers is as much a social history as it is a technological one. The control of nature and exploitation of natural resources was at the heart of the industrialisation process and of advances in the co-ordination and effective administration of water-and land-management schemes. Today, new approaches to the management of urban water are a response to advances in scientific knowledge and technology, and of a new concern for quality of life. Environmental improvement and ecological restoration demonstrate confidence in an area, which can enhance economic competitiveness. Along with improvements in air quality, building stock and transport networks, the restoration of stream and river corridors can make a major contribution to the success of urban regeneration schemes. Urban Rivers provides an illustrated overview of the effects of urbanisation on the aquatic environment, potential solutions to the resulting problems, and new opportunities for the regeneration of urban streams and rivers, and of land along their corridors and of adjacent urban areas. The book is written to be accessible to a broad audience and should provide a stimulating and informative introduction to the subject for all those concerned with the urban river environment.

This book examines changes and transitions in the way water is managed in urban environments. This book originated from a joint French-Australian initiative on water and land management held in Montpellier, France. The book delivers practical insights into urban water management. It links scientific insights of researchers with the practical experiences of urban water practitioners to understand and respond to key trends in how urban water is supplied, treated and consumed. The 51 contributors to the volume provide a range of insights, case studies, summaries and analyses of urban water and from a global perspective. The first section on water supply and sanitation includes case studies from Zimbabwe, France and South Africa, among others. Water demand and water economics are addressed in the second section of the book, with chapters on long-term water demand forecasting, the social determinants of water consumption in Australian cities, a study of water quality and consumption in France, governance and regulation of the urban water sector and more. The third section explores water governance and integrated management, with chapters on water management in Quebec, in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond urban area, in Singapore and in Australia. The final section offers perspectives on challenges and future uncertainties for urban water systems in transition. Collectively, the diverse insights provide an important step forward in response to the challenges of sustainably delivering water safely, efficiently and equitably.

With the introduction of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations General Assembly in 25 September 2015, UN agencies, member states and stakeholders have begun to focus on the adoption and implementation of these strategies in realization of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. To work toward sustainability, strategic measures to encourage stakeholders to contribute to the goals of the 2030 agenda are needed. In recognition of these efforts, this book is produced to compile research concepts and approaches for the area of sustainability management of industry, technology development, community, education and the environment. The objective of this book is to deliberate concepts and approaches of sustainability management taking place in Malaysia whereby case studies will be revealed to provide way forward of sustainability management toward achieving sustainable development. The insights provided can be applied to advanced and developing countries by sustainable development practitioners, encompassing government agencies, academia, industries, NGOs and community, who would like to adopt the concept of approach of sustainability into their area of management.

This book is intended for those with an academic, scientific and practical interest in river conservation and management. It provides an overview of how changes in legislation, policies, institutional responsibilities, science, technology, practical techniques and public perception have influenced how rivers have been managed over the past 20 years and the challenges that lie ahead during the next 20 years. The book is based on the international conference River Conservation and Management:20 Years On held at York. Thirty-one chapters, with contributions from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia provide a wide-ranging perspective on this complex but profoundly important subject. Following an introduction that chronicles the most important contextual changes, the book is organized into four broad topics: Catchment management, ecosystem integrity and the threats to river ecosystems – this covers progress on understanding and addressing the pressures affecting rivers, many of which will be amplified by climate change and increasing human demands for water; Methods and approaches – illustrating some recent techniques that have been developed to assess condition and conservation status across different types of river; Recovery and rehabilitation – providing an insight into the principles, practice, public involvement and institutional networks that support and make improvements to modified river reaches; Integrating nature conservation into wider river management –demonstrating the importance of integrated planning, involvement of local communities and the use of adaptive management in achieving multiple environmental and economic benefits along rivers used for different purposes. The final chapter discusses the challenges faced in dealing with an uncertain future. More than 1200 different references and numerous web-site citations provide the reader with an invaluable source of knowledge on the subject area.

Asia's 48 countries have an estimated 1.757 billion urban population and 2.4 billion people in rural areas (or approximately 60 per cent of the global population). Divided into central, eastern, southern, south-eastern and western regions, the continent is also extremely heterogeneous in terms of water quality conditions. The policies and management practices vary significantly from one country to another, and even within one country, depending on specific economic, political, social, environmental, legal and institutional factors. In order to appreciate the complexities associated with water quality policy and management, it is important to acknowledge the multiplicity of interrelated and often conflicting events, issues, actors and interests, both within and outside the water sector that impact them. This complexity, alongside institutional inability for systematic and coordinated collaboration, are potent reasons as to why, in the second decade of the 21st century, formulation and implementation of efficient water quality management policies benefitting humankind and the environment have still not been achieved. The book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.