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Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is a concept that is gaining support as a means to manage urban water systems in an integrated way through the better positioning of the topic of water in urban planning and design processes. Water-sensitive urban design is emerging in the UK and this paper sets the scene and identifies the opportunities and constraints from a UK perspective. Recent developments in integrated water management, ecosystem services and multifunctional land use provide new opportunities for 'getting more for less'. These can range from seeing all forms of water as a resource, exploiting opportunities to contribute to the green and blue infrastructure agendas, resilience to climate and other changes. This paper draws on international experience as to how water-sensitive urban design can deliver opportunities; mitigate the urban development challenges; implement and support institutional, regulatory and practical opportunities and demonstrate the benefits of taking a water-sensitive urban design approach in the UK. The key requirements for delivery are highlighted and a proposed vision for water-sensitive urban design in the UK outlined.
1. Introduction
The food-energy-water nexus is seen as the next major human challenge for global survival, with water being a growing future problem (Beddington, 2010). The summer of 2012, with a drought followed by floods, illustrated that the UK is not immune from problems of water stress and also excess, all in a single season. The Institution of Civil Engineers' State of the Nation report (ICE, 2012) highlights UK water stress. Yet there is plentiful rainfall in the UK, and areas of water stress could be better supported by changes to the way in which water is managed (House of Lords, 2006), managing demand and reducing leakage from water mains. Longer term, the potential impacts of climate change and population growth on water and waste water systems need to be addressed, particularly in the already water-stressed south-east. Institutional players often frame these issues from the perspective, 'we have always done it this way' (Laws and Loeber, 2010; Newman et al., 2011), leading to a reluctance to change practices away from centralised water services to the integrated, yet more diverse, provision needed to be better address new challenges now and in the future.
Increasingly, efforts have been made to integrate the water cycle...