Water-Sensitive Urban Design: An Integral Piece of Ecological Sustainable Development

Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is an integrated water management system that encompasses low-impact design, water conservation and recycling, water quality management, and urban ecology. WSUD increasingly is becoming a key component in establishing appropriate sustainable supply planning in urban areas around the globe, as well as in contributing to flood prevention and water quality protection. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges of the present century. As populations climb, per capita use increases, and current water supplies grow shorter, water resources are becoming more critical globally. Most urban areas face difficult choices and expensive solutions to meet existing and future demand. WSUD provides one of the key approaches to resolving these dilemmas. This paper describes newly emerging models of WSUD and its implementation. An overview of key WSUD planning and design principles is presented, followed by the WSUD toolkit and description of an emerging sustainable communities planning tool developed by AECOM—the Sustainable Systems Integrated Model^TM (SSIM). SSIM provides a quantitative view of the effects of urbanization and allows for comprehensive systems-based sustainable communities planning founded on climate change mitigation goals. Several case studies of urban water resource management are also presented—showing how WSUD can improve functional water infrastructure while beautifying community development and enhancing sustainable practices that reduce climate change potential and meet compliance mandates.