Policy Innovation and Integrated Governance for Sustainable Urban Water Management
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources Management, Policy and Governance".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 1782
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental policy; urban–rural integration; population urbanization; green economic development; migration
Interests: governance; energy policy; sustainable development; renewable energy
Interests: environmental science; artificial neural network; geochemistry; hydrology; hydrogeology; irrigation and water management; water science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With the accelerating pace of urbanization and the growing impacts of climate change, urban water resource systems are facing unprecedented challenges. These include imbalances between water supply and demand, water pollution, degradation of aquatic ecosystems, and fragmented governance. Achieving efficient water use, ecological protection, and systemic governance has become a key issue for the sustainable development of cities worldwide.
In recent years, countries around the world have actively advanced policy reforms and institutional innovations in water resource governance. Mechanisms such as watershed responsibility systems, tiered governance frameworks, and digital monitoring platforms are gradually maturing. These policy tools and governance frameworks are playing an increasingly vital role in the operation of urban water systems, and there is a pressing need for in-depth research from theoretical, practical, and performance evaluation perspectives.
This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research findings from around the world on policy innovation and integrated governance in urban water resource management. It encourages interdisciplinary studies that integrate institutional design, governance mechanisms, and technological approaches, with the goal of promoting efficient, secure, and resilient urban water systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Institutional innovations in urban water management;
- Governance frameworks for sustainable and equitable water use;
- Decentralized water governance and multi-actor coordination;
- Urban watershed and river basin management policies;
- Water allocation efficiency under regulatory constraints;
- Integration of digital tools in institutional water governance;
- Policy evaluation of water quality improvement measures;
- Cross-regional or transboundary water coordination mechanisms;
- Public participation and social accountability in urban water governance;
- Policy responses to climate-induced water stress in cities.
Dr. Ziheng Shangguan
Prof. Dr. Eleni Zafeiriou
Dr. Mohd Yawar Ali Khan
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- urban water resource management
- policy innovation
- integrated governance
- institutional design
- water use efficiency
- digital water governance
- nature-based solutions
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