Na cidade de São Paulo, as inundações, consideradas a consequência das chuvas intensas e da impermeabilização do solo urbano, têm causado impactos consideráveis. As contínuas e frequentes inundações e as intervenções para contê-las, de alto custo para o Poder Público, justificam a busca de uma abordagem complementar à puramente técnica-hidráulica, que dê atenção aos aspectos sociopolíticos inerentes à drenagem urbana e ao manejo de águas pluviais, o foco principal desta pesquisa. Seus objetivos são: uma análise crítica sobre a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha de disciplinas do curso de Engenharia Civil; uma análise crítica da visão dos profissionais envolvidos, direta ou indiretamente, com a gestão urbana sobre a incorporação de aspectos sociais no planejamento e na implantação de obras de drenagem urbana; e se estes aspectos são incorporados aos projetos de obras de drenagem e se atores sociais localizados na área de uma bacia hidrográfica valorizam esta incorporação. A pesquisa concluiu que, ainda que aspectos sociopolíticos estejam incorporados na malha de disciplinas dos cursos de Graduação em Engenharia Civil e ainda que os profissionais da gestão urbana valorizem os aspectos sociais tanto quanto os aspectos técnicos das obras de drenagem, o planejamento e a implantação de obras de drenagem em construção na área da bacia hidrográfica, foco geográfico desta pesquisa, não incorporam os aspectos relativos ao sociopolítico. A bibliografia consultada e os exemplos concretos apresentados mostram a importância da incorporação dos aspectos sociopolíticos nas intervenções. Os conceitos discutidos ajudaram a formular recomendações para a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha das disciplinas e nos projetos de obras hidráulicas. São recomendações que visam, além da preservação ambiental e do atendimento ao interesse público, maximizar os benefícios da solução técnica. / In the city of São Paulo, intensive rains and urban impervious cover are being held responsible for flooding events which have been causing increase in runoff volume and in peak discharge. The high costs of technical hydraulic interventions to contain the frequent flooding impacts justify the search for an alternative approach: the incorporation of the sociopolitical complexities of urban stormwater drainage, the main theme of this research. Its objectives are: understand if and how sociopolitical complexities are being incorporated to Civil Engineering education; how professionals directly or indirectly involved in urban stormwater management see the incorporation of sociopolitical complexities in planning and implementation of stormwater drainage construction works and, finally, if these complexities are integrated in the projects being planned and being implemented in an urban watershed area. The research concluded that Civil Engineering education incorporate courses which open space for the discussion of sociopolitical aspects; that professionals involved in urban management value the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in planning and implementation of storm water construction projects, but that in the watershed area where projects are being implemented such aspects are not taken into account. The bibliography and the concrete examples examined show the importance of incorporating sociopolitical aspects in drainage construction projects. The concepts brought forward help identify recommendations for the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in Civil Engineering education and in the planning and implementation of stormwater constructions projects. These are recommendations which aim at increasing environmental preservation, meeting the public interest and maximizing the benefits of the technical solution.

Physically decentralised water management systems may contribute to improving the sustainability of urban water management. Any shift toward decentralised systems needs to consider not just physical system design but also social values, knowledge frames, and organisations, and their interconnections to the physical technology. Four cases of recent Australian urban water management improvement projects were researched using qualitative methods. Three cases were of decentralised water management innovation. The other was of a centralised system, although decentralised options had been considered. These cases were studied to identify institutional barriers and enablers for the uptake of decentralised systems, and to better understand how emerging environmental engineering knowledge might be applied to overcome an implementation gap for decentralised urban water technologies. Analysis of each case focused on the institutional elements of urban water management, namely: the values, knowledge frames and organisational structures. These elements were identified through in-depth interviews, document review, and an on-line survey. The alignment of these elements was identified as being a significant contributor to the stability of centralised systems, or to change toward decentralised systems. A new organisational home for innovative knowledge was found to be common to each case where decentralised innovation occurred. ??Institutional entrepreneurs??, strong stakeholder engagement, and inter-organisational networks were all found to be linked to the creation of shared meaning and legitimacy for organisational and technological change. Existing planning frameworks focus on expert justification for change rather than institutional support for change. Institutional factors include shared understandings, values and organisational frameworks, and the alignment of each factor. Principles for, and examples of, appropriate organisational design for enabling and managing decentralised technological innovation for urban water management are proposed. This research contributes to the understanding of the institutional basis and dynamics of urban water management, particularly in relation to physical centralisation and decentralisation of urban water management technologies and, to a lesser extent, in relation to user involvement in urban water management. Understanding of factors that contribute to enabling and constraining decentralised technologies is extended to include institutional and organisational factors. New and practical pathways for change for the implementation of decentralised urban water systems are provided.

Physically decentralised water management systems may contribute to improving the sustainability of urban water management. Any shift toward decentralised systems needs to consider not just physical system design but also social values, knowledge frames, and organisations, and their interconnections to the physical technology. Four cases of recent Australian urban water management improvement projects were researched using qualitative methods. Three cases were of decentralised water management innovation. The other was of a centralised system, although decentralised options had been considered. These cases were studied to identify institutional barriers and enablers for the uptake of decentralised systems, and to better understand how emerging environmental engineering knowledge might be applied to overcome an implementation gap for decentralised urban water technologies. Analysis of each case focused on the institutional elements of urban water management, namely: the values, knowledge frames and organisational structures. These elements were identified through in-depth interviews, document review, and an on-line survey. The alignment of these elements was identified as being a significant contributor to the stability of centralised systems, or to change toward decentralised systems. A new organisational home for innovative knowledge was found to be common to each case where decentralised innovation occurred. ??Institutional entrepreneurs??, strong stakeholder engagement, and inter-organisational networks were all found to be linked to the creation of shared meaning and legitimacy for organisational and technological change. Existing planning frameworks focus on expert justification for change rather than institutional support for change. Institutional factors include shared understandings, values and organisational frameworks, and the alignment of each factor. Principles for, and examples of, appropriate organisational design for enabling and managing decentralised technological innovation for urban water management are proposed. This research contributes to the understanding of the institutional basis and dynamics of urban water management, particularly in relation to physical centralisation and decentralisation of urban water management technologies and, to a lesser extent, in relation to user involvement in urban water management. Understanding of factors that contribute to enabling and constraining decentralised technologies is extended to include institutional and organisational factors. New and practical pathways for change for the implementation of decentralised urban water systems are provided.

Na cidade de São Paulo, as inundações, consideradas a consequência das chuvas intensas e da impermeabilização do solo urbano, têm causado impactos consideráveis. As contínuas e frequentes inundações e as intervenções para contê-las, de alto custo para o Poder Público, justificam a busca de uma abordagem complementar à puramente técnica-hidráulica, que dê atenção aos aspectos sociopolíticos inerentes à drenagem urbana e ao manejo de águas pluviais, o foco principal desta pesquisa. Seus objetivos são: uma análise crítica sobre a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha de disciplinas do curso de Engenharia Civil; uma análise crítica da visão dos profissionais envolvidos, direta ou indiretamente, com a gestão urbana sobre a incorporação de aspectos sociais no planejamento e na implantação de obras de drenagem urbana; e se estes aspectos são incorporados aos projetos de obras de drenagem e se atores sociais localizados na área de uma bacia hidrográfica valorizam esta incorporação. A pesquisa concluiu que, ainda que aspectos sociopolíticos estejam incorporados na malha de disciplinas dos cursos de Graduação em Engenharia Civil e ainda que os profissionais da gestão urbana valorizem os aspectos sociais tanto quanto os aspectos técnicos das obras de drenagem, o planejamento e a implantação de obras de drenagem em construção na área da bacia hidrográfica, foco geográfico desta pesquisa, não incorporam os aspectos relativos ao sociopolítico. A bibliografia consultada e os exemplos concretos apresentados mostram a importância da incorporação dos aspectos sociopolíticos nas intervenções. Os conceitos discutidos ajudaram a formular recomendações para a incorporação do sociopolítico na malha das disciplinas e nos projetos de obras hidráulicas. São recomendações que visam, além da preservação ambiental e do atendimento ao interesse público, maximizar os benefícios da solução técnica. / In the city of São Paulo, intensive rains and urban impervious cover are being held responsible for flooding events which have been causing increase in runoff volume and in peak discharge. The high costs of technical hydraulic interventions to contain the frequent flooding impacts justify the search for an alternative approach: the incorporation of the sociopolitical complexities of urban stormwater drainage, the main theme of this research. Its objectives are: understand if and how sociopolitical complexities are being incorporated to Civil Engineering education; how professionals directly or indirectly involved in urban stormwater management see the incorporation of sociopolitical complexities in planning and implementation of stormwater drainage construction works and, finally, if these complexities are integrated in the projects being planned and being implemented in an urban watershed area. The research concluded that Civil Engineering education incorporate courses which open space for the discussion of sociopolitical aspects; that professionals involved in urban management value the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in planning and implementation of storm water construction projects, but that in the watershed area where projects are being implemented such aspects are not taken into account. The bibliography and the concrete examples examined show the importance of incorporating sociopolitical aspects in drainage construction projects. The concepts brought forward help identify recommendations for the incorporation of sociopolitical aspects in Civil Engineering education and in the planning and implementation of stormwater constructions projects. These are recommendations which aim at increasing environmental preservation, meeting the public interest and maximizing the benefits of the technical solution.

With a population of over 13 million, Istanbul is one of the biggest city in Europe. The possible increase of population in the future may bring serious problems of water supply after a few decades. Therefore, it is crucial to look for good solutions to problems and potential challenges in water supply and water demand. This paper intended to investigate the currently existing problems in water and wastewater management practices in Istanbul from a supply-demand-reuse perspective; and to look for possible opportunities for a future improvement in order to achieve a sustainable urban water management system in Istanbul by promoting its wastewater management system. In this paper, two interviews of professionals, and a survey in Istanbul city area were conducted for obtaining gather primary data. Analysis of relative literatures is applied for grasping an accurate picture of water and wastewater management in Istanbul. According to the study, authorities are making great efforts to meet the ever increasing demand for water. From a supply-demand-reuse management perspective, Istanbul is still at the stage of supply management with sufficient wastewater treatment. However, there is not much sign of a demand management model, as inadequate effort has been devoted to controlling the increase of water demand. Although reuse management may still be a distant goal for Istanbul to achieve, a good preparation can be started by promoting and further improving the current wastewater management system, as wastewater reuse, if properly managed, will be the best solution that will lead to achieving long-term benefits.

Cities worldwide are facing problems to mitigate the impact of urban stormwater runoff caused by the increasing occurrence of heavy rainfall events and urban re-densification. This study presents a new approach for estimating the potential of the Management of Urban STormwater at Block-level (MUST-B) by decentralized blue-green infrastructures here called low-impact developments (LIDs) for already existing urban environments. The MUST-B method was applied to a study area in the northern part of the City of Leipzig, Germany. The Study areas was divided into blocks smallest functional units and considering two different soil permeability and three different rainfall events, seven scenarios have been developed: current situation, surface infiltration, swale infiltration, trench infiltration, trough-trench infiltration, and three different combinations of extensive roof greening, trough-trench infiltration, and shaft infiltration. The LIDs have been simulated and their maximum retention/infiltration potential and the required area have been estimated together with a cost calculation. The results showed that even stormwater of a 100 year rainfall event can be fully retained and infiltrated within the blocks on a soil with low permeability (kf = 10−6 m/s). The cost and the required area for the LIDs differed depending on the scenario and responded to the soil permeability and rainfall events. It is shown that the MUST-B method allows a simple down- and up-scaling process for different urban settings and facilitates decision making for implementing decentralized blue-green-infrastructure that retain, store, and infiltrate stormwater at block level.

Water scarcity is an increasing problem all over the world. In order to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030, safe and affordable access to drinking water is a key target that needs to be achieved according to SDG6. In order to secure more drinking water for the future, sustainable innovative water management strategies that aim better supply and demand management are needed. Digital water meter is a smart technology that is used as a demand management tool for saving water quantities, improving the water service provider efficiency and the social equity. The goal of this project is to see how digital prepaid water meters interpret and implement the three pillars of urban sustainable development (economic, environment and social equity) and if this implementation influences the local infrastructure management policies and politics. Next to the literature, a case study was taken about the digital prepaid water meters (PWMs) in Palestine. The study was based on desk-based studies, interviews and online events. The analysis of the results was done based on five different categories (Policies and Regulations, Economic, Consumption, Social Equity and finally Politics). The findings showed that implying such technology directly affects and changes the current policies and regulations. It helps the water service providers to achieve a financial stability. The water consumption decreases and it stops the wasteful water practices. The smartness of the system helped in taking poor and marginalized people into consideration while applying such technology. Internal and external politics have a major role to play in order to benefit from PWMs. / Brist på vatten är ett växande problem i hela världen. För att nå målen för hållbar utveckling senast år 2030, är säker och prisvärd tillgång till dricksvatten ett nyckelmål som måste uppnås enligt SDG6. I takt med att säkra upp mer dricksvatten för framtiden, krävs strategisk hållbar innovation för att bättre hantera utbud och efterfråga. Digital vattenmätare med smart teknik används som verktyg för hantering av vattenbehov i avsikt att spara vatten, förbättra effektiviteten hos vattenleverantören och skapa social jämlikhet. Syftet med detta projekt är att studera hur väl digitala vattenmätare anses implementera de tre pelarna inom hållbar stadsutveckling (ekonomi, miljö och social jämlikhet). Men även om detta utförande påverkar den lokala regleringen för infrastruktur och politiken. Utöver litteraturen, har en fallstudie utförts om de digitala förbetalda vattenmätarna (PWMs) i Palestina. Studien bygger på skrivbordsundersökning, intervjuer och online-evenemang. Analysen gjordes utifrån fem olika kategorier (reglering och lagstiftning, ekonomi, konsumtion, social jämlikhet och slutligen politik). Resultatet visade att implementering av denna teknik påverkar och förändrar gällande reglering och lagstiftning. Det hjälper vattenleverantörer att uppnå en finansiell stabilitet. Vattenkonsumtionen minskar och det stoppar slösaktig vattenanvändning. Systemets smarthet hjälpte till att ta hänsyn till fattiga och marginaliserade människor när de tillämpar sådan teknik. Intern och extern politik spelar en stor roll ifall man ska kunna dra nytta av PWM.

Inflow and infiltration (I/I) water in the sewer network originates from groundwater, precipitation, seawater as well as over-leakage from drinking water pipes. It is the proportion of water in the sewer system that is not wastewater and causes problems both at the treatment plant as well as in the sewer network. Through overflows, floods and bypassing at the treatment plant I/I causes discharges of wastewater to recipients and nature and thus have negative environmental effects. I/I also stand for an overload in the system which, in addition to environmental consequences, also has social, economic and technical consequences. Despite efforts to reduce and mitigate the effects of I/I water for a long time, the problem remains and a large proportion of all the wastewater in the network and the treatment plan still is I/I.  Historically, and for many cases at present, there is little to no methodology for how the work with I/I water takes place and is prioritized in the municipalities and responsible water and sewerage organizations. Measures have instead been implemented with a reaction based approach, in other words when something has broken down or there is a failure in the system. A new discussion about I/I water has arisen in recent years due to new requirements from supervisory authorities. As there is not much follow-up or methodology around the work with I/I water, the process of developing a strategy to meet these new requirements for municipalities has shown to be difficult. In cases where analysis of measures against I/I water has been carried out, cost and effects in the treatment plant (i.e. the proportion of I/I water) have most often been used and dimensions other than economic have been left out of the analysis. As I/I water affects social and environmental factors to a great extent, this should be taken into greater account.  In this work, a multi-criterion analysis has been performed in a case study where similar measures to reduce I/I water and its effects in two different areas have been analysed. The included measures were separation, lining, pipe bursting and installation of a stormwater cassette. The results of the case study show that measure A2 has the greatest positive effect. However, there are major uncertainties in the case study conducted and the results are not considered to be robust enough to be used. However, what has been important to include from the work is that by defining and using criteria from all sustainability dimensions, a comprehensive action choice analysis is created and that it is a structured approach to apply. Here, the importance of opening up for discussion within the municipality/organization is emphasized to achieve a coherent view of the prioritization of I/I water and to achieve efficient management. Problems and amounts of I/I water are complex issues and vary from place to place, and are strongly linked to local geohydrological and climate conditions and design of local sewage systems. Therefore, it is important to coordinate the planning of I/I water to use a workflow that is general and can be used, regardless of conditions, in a simple way where adjustments in accordance with local conditions are possible. This work has shown that multi-criteria analysis is a clear and adaptable tool for meeting the difficulties that exist. / Tillskottsvatten härstammar från grundvatten, nederbörd samt havsvatten genom felaktiga anslutningar eller läckage i ledningsnätet samt från överläckage från dricksvattenledningar. Det är andelen av vatten i avloppsnätet som inte är spillvatten och orsakar, genom bräddning, översvämningar och förbiledning i reningsverket, utsläpp av avloppsvatten till recipienter och natur samt står för en överbelastning i systemet. Trots att man arbetat med att minska och lindra effekterna av tillskottsvatten under lång tid så kvarstår problemet och en stor andel av allt samlat vatten i ledningsnätet och som kommer till reningsverket är just tillskottsvatten.  Historiskt, samt för många fall i nuläget, så existerar det lite till ingen metodik kring hur arbetet med tillskottsvatten sker i kommunerna och ansvariga VA-organisationer utan åtgärder har implementerats på måfå eller när något har gått sönder. En ny diskussion kring tillskottsvatten har uppstått de senaste åren på grund av uppkomna nya kravställningar från tillsynsmyndigheter. I och med att det inte finns mycket uppföljning eller metodik kring arbetet med tillskottsvatten så har processen med att ta fram en strategi för att möta dessa nya krav för kommuner ofta varit svår. I de fall som analys av åtgärder mot tillskottsvatten har utförts så har kostnad och effekter i reningsverket (det vill säga andel mängd tillskottsvatten) oftast används och andra dimensioner än ekonomiska har lämnats utanför analysen. Då tillskottsvatten påverkar sociala samt miljömässiga faktorer i hög grad bör detta tas större hänsyn till.  I det här arbetet så har en multikriterieanalys utförts i en fallstudie där liknande åtgärder för att minska tillskottsvatten och dess effekter i olika områden har analyserats. De ingående åtgärderna var separering, infodring, rörspräckning samt anläggning av en dagvattenkassett. Resultatet av fallstudien visar att åtgärdsalternativ 2 har störst positiv effekt. Det finns dock stora osäkerheter i den fallstudie som utförts och resultatet anses inte vara tillräckligt robust för att användas. Det som dock har varit viktigt att ta med från arbetet är att genom att definiera och använda kriterier från alla hållbarhetsdimensioner skapas en heltäckande åtgärdsvalsanalys och att det är ett strukturerat arbetssätt att applicera. Här understryks vikten av att öppna upp för diskussion inom kommunen/organisationen för att nå en sammanhållen syn på prioriteringen av tillskottsvatten samt för att nå en effektiv hantering. Problem och mängder tillskottsvatten i olika ställen är komplext och starkt kopplat till lokala klimat och geohydrologiska förhållanden samt lokala avloppssystem. Därför är det viktigt för att samordna planeringen av tillskottsvatten att använda en arbetsgång som är generell och kan användas, oavsett förutsättningar, på ett enkelt sätt där justeringar i enlighet med lokala förutsättningar är möjligt. Det här arbetet har visat att multikriterieanalys är ett tydligt och anpassningsbart verktyg för att möta de svårigheter som finns.

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).

<div>The security, resilience and sustainability of water supply in urban areas are of major concern in cities around the world. Their dynamics and long-term trajectories result from external change processes, as well as adaptive and maladaptive management practices aiming to secure urban livelihoods. This dissertation examines the dynamics of urban water systems from a social-ecological-technical systems perspective, in which infrastructure and institutions mediate the human-water-ecosystem relationship. </div><div><br></div><div>The three concepts of security, resilience and sustainability are often used interchangeably, making the achievement of goals addressing such challenges somewhat elusive. This becomes evident in the international policy arena, with the UN Sustainable Development Goals being the most prominent example, in which aspirations for achieving the different goals for different sectors lead to conflicting objectives. Similarly, the scientific literature remains inconclusive on characterizations and quantifiable metrics. These and other urban water challenges facing the global urban community are discussed, and research questions and objectives are introduced in Section 1. </div><div><br></div><div>In Section 2, I suggest distinct definitions of urban water security, resilience and sustainability: Security refers to the state of system functioning regarding water services; resilience refers to ability to absorb shocks, to adapt and transform, and therefore describes the dynamic, short- to medium-term system behavior in response to shocks and disturbances; sustainability aims to balance the needs in terms of ecology and society (humans and the economic systems they build) of today without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations. Therefore, sustainability refers to current and long-term impacts on nature and society of maintaining system functions, and therefore affects system trajectories. I suggest that sustainability should include not only local effects, but consider impacts across scales and sectors. I propose methods for the quantification of urban water security, resilience and sustainability, an approach for modeling dynamic water system behavior, as well as an integrated framework combining the three dimensions for a holistic assessment of urban water supply systems. The framework integrates natural, human and engineered system components (“Capital Portfolio Approach”) and is applied to a range of case study cities selected from a broad range of hydro-climatic and socio-economic regions on four continents. Data on urban water infrastructure and services were collected from utilities in two cities (Amman, Jordan; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), key stakeholder interviews and a household survey conducted in Amman. Publicly available, empirical utility data and globally accessible datasets were used to support these and additional case studies. </div><div><br></div><div>The data show that community adaptation significantly contributes to urban water security and resilience, but the ability to adapt is highly heterogeneous across and within cities, leading to large inequality of water security. In cities with high levels of water security and resilience, adaptive capacity remains latent (inactive), while water-insecure cities rely on community adaptation for the self-provision of services. The framework is applied for assessing individual urban water systems, as well as for cross-city comparison for different types of cities. Results show that cities fall along a continuous gradient, ranging from water insecure and non-resilient cities with inadequate service provision prone to failure in response to extant shock regimes, to water secure and resilient systems with high levels of services and immediate recovery after shocks. Although limited by diverse constraints, the analyses show that urban water security and resilience tend to co-evolve, whereas sustainability, which considers local and global sustainable management, shows highly variable results across cities. I propose that the management of urban water systems should maintain a balance of security, resilience and sustainability.</div><div><br></div><div>The focus in Section 3 is on intra-city patterns and mechanisms, which contribute to urban water security, resilience and sustainability. In spite of engineering design and planning, and against common expectations, intra-city patterns emerge from self-organizing processes similar to those found in nature. These are related to growth processes following the principle of preferential attachment and functional efficiency considerations, which lead to Pareto power-law probability distributions characteristic of scale-free-like structures. Results presented here show that such structures are also present in urban water distribution and sanitary sewer networks, and how deviation from such specific patterns can result in vulnerability towards cascading failures. In addition, unbounded growth, unmanaged demand and unregulated water markets can lead to large inequality, which increases failure vulnerability. </div><div><br></div><div>The introduction of infrastructure and institutions for providing urban water services intercedes and mediates the human-water relationship. Complexity of infrastructural and institutional setups, growth patterns, management strategies and practices result in different levels of disconnects between citizens and the ecosystems providing freshwater resources. “Invisibility” of services to citizens results from maximized water system performance. It can lead to a lack of awareness about the effort and underlying infrastructure and institutions that operate for delivering services. Data for the seven cities illustrate different portfolios of complexity, invisibility and disconnection. Empirical data gathered in a household survey and key stakeholder interviews in Amman reveals that a misalignment of stakeholder perceptions resulting from the lack of information flow between citizens and urban managers can be misguiding and can constrain the decision-making space. Unsustainable practices are fostered by invisibility and disconnection and exacerbate the threats to urban water security and resilience. Such challenges are investigated in the context of urban water system traps: the poverty and the rigidity trap. Results indicate that urban water poverty is associated with local unsustainability, while rigidity traps combined with urban demand growth gravitate towards global unsustainability. </div><div><br></div><div>Returning to the city-level in Section 4, I investigate urban water system evolution. The question how the trajectories of urban water security, resilience and sustainability can be managed is examined using insights from hydrological and social-ecological systems research. I propose an “Urban Budyko Landscape”, which compares urban water supply systems to hydrological catchments and highlights the different roles of supply- and demand-management of water and water-related urban services. A global assessment of 38 cities around the world puts the seven case studies in perspective, emphasizing the relevance of the proposed framework and the representative, archetypal character of the selected case studies. </div><div><br></div><div>Furthermore, I examine how managing for the different dimensions of the CPA (capital availability, robustness, risk and sustainable management) determines the trajectories of urban water systems. This is done by integrating the CPA with the components of social-ecological system resilience, which explain how control of the different components determines the movement of systems through states of security and resilience in a stability landscape. Finally, potential feedbacks resulting from the global environment are investigated with respect to the role that globally sustainable local and regional water management can play in determining the trajectories of urban water systems. These assessments demonstrate how the impact of supply-oriented strategies reach beyond local, regional and into global boundaries for meeting a growing urban demand, and come at the cost of global sustainability and communities elsewhere.</div><div><br></div><div>Despite stark differences between individual cities and large heterogeneities within cities, convergent trends and patterns emerge across systems and are revealed through application of the proposed concepts and frameworks. The implications of these findings are discussed in Section 5, and are summarized here as follows: </div><div>1) The management of urban water systems needs to move beyond the security and resilience paradigms, which focus on current system functioning and short-term behavior. Sustaining a growing global, urban population will require addressing the long-term, cross-scale and inter-sector impacts of achieving and maintaining urban water security and resilience. </div><div>2) Emergent spatial patterns are driven by optimization for the objective functions. Avoiding traps, cascading failure, extreme inequality and maintaining global urban livability requires a balance of supply- and demand-management, consideration of system complexity, size and reach (i.e., footprint), as well as internal structures and management strategies (connectedness and modularity).</div><div>3) Urban water security and resilience are threatened by long-term decline, which necessitates the transformation to urban sustainability. The key to sustainability lies in experimentation, modularization and the incorporation of interdependencies across scales, systems and sectors.</div><div><br></div>