Publication:
Institutions and decentralised urban water management

dc.contributor.advisor Ashbolt, Nicholas en_US
dc.contributor.advisor Colebatch, Hal en_US
dc.contributor.author Livingston, Daniel John en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2022-03-21T16:28:52Z
dc.date.available 2022-03-21T16:28:52Z
dc.date.issued 2008 en_US
dc.description.abstract Physically decentralised water management systems may contribute to improving the sustainability of urban water management. Any shift toward decentralised systems needs to consider not just physical system design but also social values, knowledge frames, and organisations, and their interconnections to the physical technology. Four cases of recent Australian urban water management improvement projects were researched using qualitative methods. Three cases were of decentralised water management innovation. The other was of a centralised system, although decentralised options had been considered. These cases were studied to identify institutional barriers and enablers for the uptake of decentralised systems, and to better understand how emerging environmental engineering knowledge might be applied to overcome an implementation gap for decentralised urban water technologies. Analysis of each case focused on the institutional elements of urban water management, namely: the values, knowledge frames and organisational structures. These elements were identified through in-depth interviews, document review, and an on-line survey. The alignment of these elements was identified as being a significant contributor to the stability of centralised systems, or to change toward decentralised systems. A new organisational home for innovative knowledge was found to be common to each case where decentralised innovation occurred. ‘Institutional entrepreneurs’, strong stakeholder engagement, and inter-organisational networks were all found to be linked to the creation of shared meaning and legitimacy for organisational and technological change. Existing planning frameworks focus on expert justification for change rather than institutional support for change. Institutional factors include shared understandings, values and organisational frameworks, and the alignment of each factor. Principles for, and examples of, appropriate organisational design for enabling and managing decentralised technological innovation for urban water management are proposed. This research contributes to the understanding of the institutional basis and dynamics of urban water management, particularly in relation to physical centralisation and decentralisation of urban water management technologies and, to a lesser extent, in relation to user involvement in urban water management. Understanding of factors that contribute to enabling and constraining decentralised technologies is extended to include institutional and organisational factors. New and practical pathways for change for the implementation of decentralised urban water systems are provided. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/41336
dc.language English
dc.language.iso EN en_US
dc.publisher UNSW, Sydney en_US
dc.rights CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 en_US
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ en_US
dc.subject.other institutions en_US
dc.subject.other urban water management en_US
dc.subject.other decentralised en_US
dc.subject.other sustainable water management en_US
dc.subject.other decentralisation en_US
dc.subject.other institionalisation en_US
dc.subject.other Water-supply -- Australia -- Management en_US
dc.subject.other Planning en_US
dc.subject.other Water quality management en_US
dc.subject.other Water resources development en_US
dc.title Institutions and decentralised urban water management en_US
dc.type Thesis en_US
dcterms.accessRights open access
dcterms.rightsHolder Livingston, Daniel John
dspace.entity.type Publication en_US
unsw.accessRights.uri https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
unsw.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/17785
unsw.relation.faculty Engineering
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Livingston, Daniel John, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Ashbolt, Nicholas, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Colebatch, Hal, Social Sciences & International Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.school School of Civil and Environmental Engineering *
unsw.thesis.degreetype PhD Doctorate en_US
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