Urban Water Conflicts: UNESCO-IHP

Urban water conflicts, manifested first in Europe in the 19th century and observed nowadays in various forms in developing countries; characterize complex socioeconomic and institutional issues related to urban water management. The public versus private debate is frequently associated with conflicts over water and sanitation services. The less considered issue of centralization versus decentralization also needs to be taken in the same context as these are often intertwined. Therefore, a critical examination in a holistic way is important for better understanding urban water conflicts. Urban Water Conflicts – the output of a project by UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program on Socioeconomic and Institutional Aspects in Urban Water Management – presents a collection of essays on socioeconomic and institutional aspects of urban water management, focusing on water and sanitation services. The book examines interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and analyzing urban water conflicts manifested in different ways and levels. Conflict analysis is addressed in some essays by taking into account economic, environmental, social dimensions of sustainability. The issue of institutional conflicts between different levels of government in relation to urban water management is also discussed in some case-studies.