Toward Sustainability, Away from Collapse: Challenges for Twenty-First Century Megacities

Abstract

Adaptation and resilience are concepts meant to galvanize thinking around the ways and means of ensuring that cities, while standing their ground, develop a capacity to change for the greater good. Political crises across North Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine illustrate how events remote in physical space have impacts that touch everyone around the world: disrupted supply chains, rising prices, food insecurity and the mass movement of people highlight the importance of bringing complex systems thinking, integrated resource management practice and collective action processes to bear even in discrete contexts such as meeting the challenges of urban water security. The evidence in this collection shows highly uneven outcomes in pursuit of urban water security. The chapter authors argue for deeper commitment from all stakeholders toward improved governance through inclusive, transparent and accountable decision processes and practices; green design leading to the use of appropriate and affordable technology; concentrated focus on nature-based solutions that can be jointly undertaken by all stakeholders in order to not only build sustainably but to also build trust and social capital; fairness in pricing and the use of market forces; and specific, targeted actions framed by complex and integrated systems analysis.