The purpose of this paper is to discuss smaller scale Australian Water's Edge Public Spaces (WEPS) and connect these to the outcomes of a pilot study that compared three WEPS: in Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, at different stages of their lifecycle.

Australia's urban water sector needs major changes to meet the challenges of providing services that minimise costs and maximise benefits to the community, according to a draft report released by the Productivity Commission.

Australian cities have traditionally relied for their water on a ‘predict-and-provide’ philosophy that gives primacy to big engineering solutions. In more recent years privatised water authorities, seeking to maximise consumption and profits, have reinforced the emphasis on increasing supply. Now the cities must cope with the stresses these policies have imposed on the eco-systems from...

Most urban households face severe restrictions on their use of water. These impose hidden costs that could amount to billions of dollars each year. Australia’s urban water shortages are only partly due to low rainfall. An important contributor has been inadequate institutional arrangements for the management of our urban water resources.This discussion paper identifies a...

The need to conserve and reuse natural resources is a key factor in making our cities more ecologically sustainable. Urban water supply is one of the most pressing concerns which will require more than conservation or demand management if future water security is to be realised.