Ms Wenjing Zhang1
1University Of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Water-related concerns from the process of urbanization remains a challenge around the world. We analyse how a centralised regime frames their mission statement informing their approach to build up a water security system. We argue that the current scholarship around urban water security is not different from the debate around water security, as both discussions emphasise equity, environment conditions, accessibility, and governance, with the former put emphasis at the urban area and urban region. We suggest that the “water security” in China is framed as urban water security which largely motivated by the urbanization process. In light of such framing, large-scale, supply-oriented water transfer projects are emphasized in the policies. The practice of the statement thus poses incentives to continue expanding urban regions as creating a continuous core-periphery structure. By examining the case study of Xiong’an, we expand understandings of, and policy approaches to, urban water security by attending to temporal dimension and regional implications.
Biography
Wenjing Zhang is a PhD student in the School of Geography, University of Melbourne. Her research is about the relationship between water availability and urban development, with a focus on the provision of water for the new city of Xiongan.