The Economics of Sustainable Urban Water Management: The Case of Beijing

A rapidly growing urban population leads to the dramatic increase of water consumption in the world. The water resources available to the human being are limited. Meanwhile climate variability and environmental pollution decrease the quantity of water resources available for human use. It is a significant challenge to provide sufficient water to urban residents in a sustainable and effective way. Facing urban water crisis, researchers point out a paradigm shift in urban water management for sustainable water supply and services. This requires multi-disciplinary approaches, including technical improvements and economic evaluations. Advanced technology can contribute to the solution of problems physically, but it may not ensure sustainable operation of water systems. The obstacles to sustainable water supply and services often are from non-technical problems such as low cost recovery, lack of sound pricing systems and sustainable financing for increasing service coverage. The financial and economic factors could be a large barrier to the operation of water systems. This research aims to use economics to assess water systems for sustainable urban water management. How to use economics on urban water systems and what contributions can economics bring to sustainable water management are the two main research questions in the thesis.

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