A scoping review on Water Sensitive Urban Design aims and achievements

Cities and towns have developed stormwater systems to remove the runoff from developed areas. Although the systems are efficient in mitigating local drainage issues, they transfer pollutants and sediment to receiving waters, increase the flashiness of the flow regime and reduce ecological health. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) approaches are now being adopted to mitigate urbanisation and climate change impacts. This paper reports on the result of reviewing more than 200 papers leading to the conclusion that further investigation is vital to understand how WSUD systems can mitigate climate change impacts and rapid urban development due to the population growth and ongoing shift in populations to cities. Further, the importance of understanding the role of WSUD in increasing the liveability of urban areas. The paper also identifies both strengths and limitations of WSUD which is vital to promote realistic expectations and consequently appropriate designs, budgets, and maintenance regimes.