Abstract
Cities play a critical role for the sustainable management of planetary freshwater. At the same time, cities need to adapt to climate change. This offers cities an opportunity to improve freshwater management. In this chapter, the authors describe the status of urban water management in Beijing and Copenhagen, from the standpoint of sustainable development and climate resilience. In particular, they look into the degree to which the local water balance has been displaced. They review key water challenges and instruments in both cities, as well as related governance aspects. They consider the potential impact of these instruments and the relevance of a green infrastructure (GI) approach, as well as the potential for improving urban sustainability governance. A special focus is on the role of GI for retracking the city towards sustainable urban water management and climate resilience.
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Notes
- 1.
This is so-called virtual water. The virtual-water content of a product (a commodity, good, or service) is the volume of freshwater used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced.
- 2.
Districts of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Shijingshan, Fengtai (excluding the area west of the River Yongding), and Haidian (excluding the area north of the mountain with the four towns, i.e. Weiquan Town, Sujiatuo Town, Xibeiwang Town, and Shangzhuang Town), plus the area north of Beiyuan and Huilongguan in Changping District.
- 3.
The service level describes the level of protection that the stormwater drainage system is designed to provide. With a service level of 3 years, the stormwater drainage system can be allowed to overflow every third year on average, but not more frequently than that. In other words, the stormwater drainage system is designed to handle rain up to the level of a 3-year rain event, which is the worst rain that occurs with a return period of 3 years.
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Liu, L., Jensen, M.B., Zhang, X. (2019). Urban Water Management in Beijing and Copenhagen: Sustainability, Climate Resilience, and the Local Water Balance. In: Delman, J., Ren, Y., Luova, O., Burell, M., Almén, O. (eds) Greening China’s Urban Governance. ARI - Springer Asia Series, vol 7. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0740-9_5
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