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Water neutrality framework for systemic design of new urban developments
Pepe Puchol-Salort1, Stanislava Boskovic1, Barnaby Dobson1
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, Imperial College Rd, London SW7 2BB, United Kingdom.
Water Research
|June 1, 2022
Summary
Achieving Water Neutrality (WN) in cities requires retrofitting existing homes alongside new developments. A new framework, CityPlan-Water, shows combining water-saving measures can offset 70% of new development impacts.
Area of Science:
- Urban planning
- Water resource management
- Environmental engineering
Background:
- Climate change and population growth are critical threats to urban water security globally.
- Urban development increases water demand, flood risk, and river pollution, necessitating integrated management strategies.
- Water Neutrality (WN) is an emerging concept to address escalating urban water stresses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present CityPlan-Water, a novel systemic design framework for urban planning to achieve Water Neutrality.
- To guide the integration of spatial data and urban water management models for city-scale WN.
- To define a Water Neutrality Index for assessing planning scenarios and intervention effectiveness.
Main Methods:
- Development of the CityPlan-Water framework integrating spatial data and urban water management models.
- Systematic assessment of future urban development and water management scenarios.
- Definition and application of a Water Neutrality Index to evaluate WN achievement.
Main Results:
- Retrofitting existing homes is crucial, nearly matching the scale of new developments for full impact offset.
- Combining water-efficient appliances, reuse systems, and awareness campaigns can reduce new development water demand impact by 70%.
- Rainwater harvesting and Blue-Green Infrastructure in new and 432,000 existing homes are needed to neutralize flood risk and pollution.
Conclusions:
- CityPlan-Water provides a data-driven tool to support urban planning for Water Neutrality.
- Achieving WN requires a holistic approach, combining new development strategies with extensive retrofitting of existing housing stock.
- The framework facilitates the design of water-neutral housing and promotes sustainable urban development.
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