ีurban planners face a choice in their future approach to water
resources: their cities can become increasingly dependent
on rural support areas and enlarge their urban ‘shadow’,
potentially damaging food production, nutrient flows, and water resources; or
they can shift from being resource users to resource managers, altering their
consumption patterns, waste management, and planning to better balance
resource flows to and from cities.
This section charts the shift that is needed to usher in more sustainable water
management for cities and their surroundings.