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Political and Professional Agency Entrapment: An Agenda for Urban Water Research

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  • Rebekah Brown
  • Richard Ashley
  • Megan Farrelly

Abstract

The many societal benefits provided by traditional, centralised urban water servicing models are being re-examined following recent extreme weather events, climate uncertainty and other variable socio-technical trends. Total water cycle management offers a more flexible and resilient approach to urban water management, however, transformative change in the sector is difficult. A growing number of scholars have identified that the urban water sector is locked-in to the current large-scale, centralised infrastructure model and suggest the sector is unable to accommodate new technologies and management approaches beyond niche projects. Based on extensive socio-institutional research and example cases from Australian and United Kingdom experiences managing urban water under pressures such as modern environmentalism, prolonged water scarcity and sewerage overflows, this paper provides a commentary on common factors exhibited in both countries related to technological path dependency. Three key factors promoting this pathway: political risk, professional agency fear and a lack of a hybrid governance approach are discussed and a future scholarly research agenda is presented. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Rebekah Brown & Richard Ashley & Megan Farrelly, 2011. "Political and Professional Agency Entrapment: An Agenda for Urban Water Research," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 4037-4050, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:25:y:2011:i:15:p:4037-4050
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-011-9886-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Short & William Peirson & Gregory Peters & Ronald Cox, 2012. "Managing Adaptation of Urban Water Systems in a Changing Climate," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(7), pages 1953-1981, May.
    2. Wasson, Robert & Saikia, Arupjyoti & Bansal, Priya & Joon, Chuah Chong, 2020. "Flood Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation and Technological Lock-In in Assam," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 3(02), July.
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    4. Stian Bruaset & Håkon Rygg & Sveinung Sægrov, 2018. "Reviewing the Long-Term Sustainability of Urban Water System Rehabilitation Strategies with an Alternative Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-30, June.
    5. Nancey Green Leigh & Heonyeong Lee, 2019. "Sustainable and Resilient Urban Water Systems: The Role of Decentralization and Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Quentin Grafton & Katherine A. Daniell & Céline Nauges & Jean-Daniel Rinaudo & Noel Wai Wah Chan, 2015. "Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition," Post-Print hal-01183861, HAL.
    7. Lee Godden & Raymond Ison & Philip Wallis, 2011. "Water Governance in a Climate Change World: Appraising Systemic and Adaptive Effectiveness," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3971-3976, December.
    8. Jannes J. Willems & Astrid Molenveld & William Voorberg & Geert Brinkman, 2020. "Diverging Ambitions and Instruments for Citizen Participation across Different Stages in Green Infrastructure Projects," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 22-32.
    9. Stec, Agnieszka & Kordana, Sabina, 2015. "Analysis of profitability of rainwater harvesting, gray water recycling and drain water heat recovery systems," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PA), pages 84-94.
    10. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2017. "An Evolutionary Perspective on Water Governance: From Understanding to Transformation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2917-2932, August.
    11. Jannes J Willems & Tim Busscher & Margo van den Brink & Jos Arts, 2018. "Anticipating water infrastructure renewal: A framing perspective on organizational learning in public agencies," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(6), pages 1088-1108, September.
    12. Serrao-Neumann, Silvia & Renouf, Marguerite A. & Morgan, Edward & Kenway, Steven J. & Low Choy, Darryl, 2019. "Urban water metabolism information for planning water sensitive city-regions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Steven Koop & Cornelis Leeuwen, 2015. "Assessment of the Sustainability of Water Resources Management: A Critical Review of the City Blueprint Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(15), pages 5649-5670, December.
    14. Yasmin, T. & Farrelly, M.A. & Rogers, B.C., 2018. "Evolution of water governance in Bangladesh: An urban perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 386-400.
    15. Lara Werbeloff & Rebekah R. Brown, 2016. "Using Policy and Regulatory Frameworks to Facilitate Water Transitions," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(11), pages 3653-3669, September.
    16. Elisabeth A. Shrimpton & Dexter Hunt & Chris D.F. Rogers, 2021. "Justice in (English) Water Infrastructure: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Rutger de Graaf-van Dinther & Anne Leskens & Ted Veldkamp & Jeroen Kluck & Floris Boogaard, 2021. "From Pilot Projects to Transformative Infrastructures, Exploring Market Receptivity for Permeable Pavement in The Netherlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, April.
    18. Katherine A. Daniell & Jean-Daniel Rinaudo & Noel Chan & Céline Nauges & Quentin Grafton, 2015. "Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition," Post-Print hal-01183846, HAL.
    19. Chris Zevenbergen & Sebastiaan Herk & Jeroen Rijke & Pavel Kabat & Pieter Bloemen & Richard Ashley & Andrew Speers & Berry Gersonius & William Veerbeek, 2013. "Taming global flood disasters. Lessons learned from Dutch experience," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 65(3), pages 1217-1225, February.
    20. Christoph Brodnik & Rebekah Brown & Chris Cocklin, 2017. "The Institutional Dynamics of Stability and Practice Change: The Urban Water Management Sector of Australia (1970–2015)," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(7), pages 2299-2314, May.
    21. Jannes J. Willems & Astrid Molenveld & William Voorberg & Geert Brinkman, 2020. "Diverging Ambitions and Instruments for Citizen Participation across Different Stages in Green Infrastructure Projects," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 22-32.
    22. Jianhua Wang & Yongping Wei & Shan Jiang & Yong Zhao & Yuyan Zhou & Weihua Xiao, 2017. "Understanding the Human-Water Relationship in China during 722 B.C.-1911 A.D. from a Contradiction and Co-Evolutionary Perspective," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(3), pages 929-943, February.

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