The energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with urban water systems have come under scrutiny in recent times, as a result of increasing interest in climate change, to which urban water systems are particularly vulnerable. The approach most commonly taken previously to modelling these results has been to consider various urban water system components in great detail, but in isolation from the rest of the system. This piecewise approach is suboptimal, since it systematically fails to reveal the relative importance of the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with each system component in the context of the entire urban water system. Hence, it was determined that a new approach to modelling the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with urban water systems was necessary. It was further determined that the value derived from such a model would be greatly enhanced if it could also model the water consumption and wastewater generation associated with each system component, such that integrated policies could be developed, aimed at minimising water consumption, wastewater generation, energy consumption and GHG emissions concurrently. Hence, the following research question was posed: How should the relationships between the water consumption, wastewater generation, energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with the operation of urban water systems be modelled such that the impact of various changes to the system configuration made at different spatial scales can be determined within the context of the entire system? In this research project, life cycle assessment ideas were employed to develop such a new modelling methodology. Initially, the approach was developed at the building-scale, such that the end uses of water present in a selected building and any associated appliances could be modelled, along with the fraction of the citywide water supply and wastewater systems directly associated with providing services to that building. This vast breadth of scope was delivered by considering only the operational life cycle stage of each urban water system component, excluding both the pre- and post-operational life cycle stages of the associated infrastructure. The value of this pilot model was illustrated by several case studies, focused on residential buildings connected to the centralised water supply and wastewater systems in Melbourne, Australia. Later, the approach was extended to the city-scale by using probabilistic distributions of each input parameter, such that all of the end uses of water present in a city, and all of the associated building-scale appliances could be modelled, along with the associated complete water supply and wastewater systems. The value of this city-scale model was illustrated by applying it to model a hypothetical case study city, resembling Melbourne, Australia in many ways. Due to a lack of data, this application was limited to the residential sector of the case study city, along with the fraction of the citywide water supply and wastewater systems directly associated with providing services to that sector. The results generated by the pilot and city-scale models showed that the new modelling methodology could be employed at a wide range of scales to assess the relative importance of each modelled urban water system component in terms of the specified results. Importantly, the high resolution of those results enabled the identification of the underlying causes of the relative importance of each urban water system component, such that efficient and effective approaches to reducing each result for each system component could be developed. Interestingly, for the specific case studies investigated, it was revealed that some commonly neglected system components were actually extremely important, such as domestic hot water services, a trend found to be largely driven by hot water consumption in showers.

With an ever-increasing population and global warming, fresh water resources are nearing depletion resulting in a global water crisis. As a consequence, cases of drought have been reported worldwide especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to climate change, urbanisation adds strain to infrastructure as well as water supply and the management of water resources. As a result, most developing countries are faced with a water management challenge. There is thus a need for a paradigm shift towards an Integrated Water Management (IWM) approach. Worldwide, countries have responded to the Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) concept through the implementation of various management strategies; with Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) emerging from Australia. Some closely allied management strategies in response to IUWM emerged in the USA as Low-Impact Development (LID), in the UK as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), and in New Zealand as Low-Impact Urban Design and Development (LIUDD). Namibia is situated along the south-west coast of Africa and is considered the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. It is characterised by a semi-arid environment, with more than 80% covered by desert or semi-desert. The country is regularly afflicted by drought and has fluctuating and unreliable rainfall patterns, often accompanied by high evaporation rates. The City of Windhoek, as the capital city, the biggest municipality and also the largest densely populated town in Namibia, is faced with an ever-increasing shortage of water for its inhabitants. For close to 50 years, the water scarcity situation has led to direct waste water reclamation for potable re-use in Windhoek. Other measures implemented by the City of Windhoek (CoW) towards IUWM include Water Demand Management (WDM), Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and Water Conservation (WC). In order for Windhoek to transform into a Water Sensitive City, the implementation of WSUD is imperative. Although the CoW has implemented measures towards IUWM, more options still need to be explored in order to contribute to IUWM processes and to ultimately become a Water Sensitive City. This research was aimed at conducting a comprehensive review of existing WSUD practices within the CoW and identifying gaps pertaining to WSUD implementation. The research confirmed, via a review of relevant literature, that the implementation of WSUD mainly flourishes when documented policies and regulations drive implementation. To review WSUD implementation in the CoW, this study followed a qualitative research approach by gathering data via online questionnaires using the SurveyMonkey platform. To validate the survey outcomes, structured interviews were conducted with selected survey participants to gain more insight into the outcomes. For the data collection, the study targeted a sample of managers and specialists from the three departments within the CoW that deal with urban infrastructure design and planning. A 72% response rate was achieved. The study revealed that there was a general understanding and knowledge of WSUD concepts among all the CoW stakeholders involved in water management, planning and design. This was mostly due to their academic knowledge and sometimes via exposure to existing WSUD practices within the city. Water Demand Management, Water Recycling, and Voluntary Green Roofs and Rainwater Harvesting were identified as existing WSUD options currently practised within the CoW. The study identified lack of capacity, lack of knowledge, lack of management support, a fragmented approach, the absence of policies and legislation, and no perceived financial benefits as barriers to WSUD implementation within the CoW. Based on the above findings, the study recommended that the City of Windhoek address existing barriers to WSUD implementation, increase awareness of WSUD within the city, secure government funding and apply for carbon credits to upscale the implementation of WSUD.

O presente trabalho adota a visão de projeto como pesquisa e desenvolve estudos de projeto para as infraestruturas urbanas fluviais da bacia hidrográfica do rio Tamanduateí, tendo como ponto de partida a ideia de recuperação da navegação nos principais rios desta bacia, presente na pesquisa de Delijaicov (1998; 2005) e nos estudos para o Hidroanel Metropolitano de São Paulo (GMF, 2011). O canal Billings-Tamanduateí cruzaria o centro da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo através dos rios Tamanduateí, Meninos e Couros e do canal de ligação com o braço Alvarenga da represa Billings, permitindo o aumento significativo da área de influência do sistema hidroviário e possibilitando a conexão com a Plataforma Logística Urbana Vila Carioca, que integra o novo sistema logístico de cargas previsto para a Macrometrópole Paulista. As eclusas e barragens móveis necessárias à navegação possibilitariam o controle das vazões e a eventual reversão das águas para a Billings, contribuindo para a macrodrenagem da bacia. Os canais e lagos navegáveis seriam eixos de infraestrutura a partir dos quais os bairros das planícies fluviais seriam reconstruídos, sendo apresentado o projeto dos Bairros Fluviais do Tamanduateí, que ocupariam o antigo parque industrial do bairro da Mooca. A partir de uma gestão integrada das águas urbanas essa infraestrutura se ramificaria pelos afluentes menores, e, na escala das microbacias hidrográficas, seriam aplicadas medidas de retenção dos escoamentos na fonte e de preservação da qualidade das águas, através de parques fluviais e microestações de tratamento, sendo desenvolvido como estudo de caso o projeto de reforma urbana para a sub-bacia do córrego Moinho Velho, afluente do Tamanduateí. Como bases para a ação projetual, a pesquisa apresenta o histórico dos projetos para as bacias hidrográficas do Alto Tietê e do Tamanduateí; discorre sobre instrumentos da legislação que representam avanços para a gestão integrada das águas urbanas; e apresenta conceitos e referências que amparam a ideia da cidade fluvial, onde os rios seriam os principais logradouros públicos, propiciando significativa melhoria na qualidade ambiental urbana. Esta pesquisa se alinha aos interesses do Grupo Metrópole Fluvial (GMF), pertencente ao Laboratório de Projeto do Departamento de Projeto (LabProj) da Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU USP). / The present work adopts the vision of design as research and develops design studies for the fluvial urban infrastructures of the Tamanduatei River basin, having, as a starting point, the idea of restoring navigation in the basin\'s main rivers, present in Delijaicov\'s research (1998; 2005) and in the studies for the Metropolitan Waterway Ring of Sao Paulo (GMF, 2011). The Billings- Tamanduatei canal would cross the center of the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo through the rivers Tamanduatei, Meninos and Couros, and the artificial canal with the Alvarenga branch of the Billings Reservoir, allowing a significant increase in the area of influence of the waterways system and the connection to the Vila Carioca Urban Logistics Platform, which integrates the new cargo logistics system for the Paulista Macrometropolis. The locks and barrages necessary for navigation would permit to control the flow rate and an eventual reversion of water to Billings, contributing to the basin\'s drainage. The canals and navigable lakes would be the infrastructural axis from where the fluvial plains\' neighborhoods would be redeveloped, therefore the project for the Tamanduatei Fluvial Neighborhoods is then presented, which would occupy the old industrial site in Mooca neighborhood. From an integrated urban waters management, this infrastructure would spread to the smaller tributaries and, at the micro basin\'s scale, retention of flow at the source and water quality preservation measures would be applied, by installing treatment microstations and creating fluvial parks, having as a case study the project for urban reform for the Moinho Velho sub-basin, a tributary to Tamanduatei. As basis for design, the research brings the history of projects for the Alto Tiete River basin and the Tamanduatei basin; discourse about legislation that represents advancements for the integrated urban waters management; and presents concepts and references that support the idea of a fluvial city, where rivers are the main public place, propitiating significant improvements in the quality of the urban environment. This research aligns with the interests of the Fluvial Metropolis Group (Grupo Metrópole Fluvial - GMF), which belongs to the Design Lab of the Design Department (Laboratório de Projeto do Departamento de Projeto - LabProj) of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sao Paulo (FAU USP).