Innovation and new public water

ABSTRACT

Technological innovation has made significant improvements to water services but water delivery remains largely unchanged since Victorian times. This is because water is an essential, non-substitutable resource with little potential for economies of scale. By contrast, there has been dynamic innovation in the governance of water services, with privatization now giving way to a significant shift back to public ownership and management, with new and creative forms of societal engagement. This article reviews these governance changes through the lens of a “hydrosocial cycle”, arguing that innovations in “new public water” can only be achieved by recognizing how water-society relations take place.