Revisiting the urban water transition framework: Adaptive strategies to enhance societal needs

The study emphasizes the importance of recognizing the varied “needs and desires” of domestic water users across diverse settlement types, including mainstream urban, slum, and peri-urban areas, to support the goal of creating liveable, equitable, and sustainable cities. Adopting a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, it incorporates cognitive, human (intrinsic) values and behaviour (perceived values) into urban water governance, moving beyond traditional technocratic approaches. The data were collected using the Environmental-Portrait Value Questionnaire and analyzed using principal component analysis in the study area of Gurugram city, India. Welch’s ANOVA and Games-Howell post-hoc tests revealed significant differences in perceptions of liveability and water-related behaviours across these demographic and socio-economic groups, shaped by human values. The findings underscore the complexity of situations in which multiple water users often coexist and compete for scarce natural resources, such as water. In response, the study expands the existing “Societal Needs” theoretical framework by proposing the “Adaptive Societal Needs Framework” – one that is dynamic, context-specific, perception-driven, responsive, inclusive, and capable of supporting innovative, flexible, decentralized and user-centric policies. By embedding a range of adaptive strategies, it modifies the conventional framework and transition studies, which overlook context-specific inequalities and the diversity of water users. Further, it offers a path towards a more resilient urban future, ensuring that the voices of those most affected by water-related challenges (slums and peri-urban) are included in decision-making processes. This study contributes both theoretically and practically, offering a model for other rapidly urbanizing regions striving to create inclusive, liveable and sustainable cities.