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Precaution and Innovation in the Context of Wastewater Regulation: An Examination of Financial Innovation under UWWTD Disputes in London and Milan

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  • Fritz-Julius Grafe

    (Department of Geography, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Harald A. Mieg

    (Institute of Geography, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) under the guidance of the precautionary principle sets out standards to guarantee high quality water services for European citizens. This creates pressure on European cities to update and renew their water infrastructures in accordance with EU Law at great financial cost. Cities within the Union try to bridge this financial gap with a variety of approaches. This paper presents the cases of London and Milan, both of which were subject to legal proceedings for breaching the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. By example of these two cases, this article details how the precautionary principle affects urban water infrastructure provision, and how the regulation of the primary risk of pollution can both trigger innovation and create secondary risks within the highly integrated urban water infrastructure sector. The London case focusses on an individual infrastructure project and shows how its financial framing has compromised the final outcome, while the Milan case presents a longer-view perspective that shows how structural changes in the urban water infrastructure sector have enabled an environment for sustainable financial innovation. The role of transparency and good local governance practices are emphasized for a successful implementation of the precautionary principle requirements in a city’s water sector. Managing this process effectively can result in meaningful social innovation for urban water infrastructure provision.

Suggested Citation

  • Fritz-Julius Grafe & Harald A. Mieg, 2021. "Precaution and Innovation in the Context of Wastewater Regulation: An Examination of Financial Innovation under UWWTD Disputes in London and Milan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-10, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9130-:d:614665
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fritz-Julius Grafe & Harald A. Mieg, 2019. "Connecting financialization and urbanization: the changing financial ecology of urban infrastructure in the UK," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 496-511, January.
    2. Fritz-Julius Grafe & Hanna Hilbrandt, 2019. "The temporalities of financialization," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4-5), pages 606-618, September.
    3. Richard Owen & Phil Macnaghten & Jack Stilgoe, 2012. "Responsible research and innovation: From science in society to science for society, with society," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(6), pages 751-760, December.
    4. Fritz-Julius Grafe, 2020. "Finance, water infrastructure, and the city: comparing impacts of financialization in London and Mumbai," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 214-231, January.
    5. Andy Pike & Peter O’Brien & Tom Strickland & Graham Thrower & John Tomaney, 2019. "Financialising City Statecraft and Infrastructure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18319.
    6. S. H. A. Koop & C. J. Leeuwen, 2017. "The challenges of water, waste and climate change in cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 385-418, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Harald A. Mieg, 2022. "Social Innovation in Sustainable Urban Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-4, April.

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