The concept for the Water Environment of Cities arose from a workshop “Green 1 Cities, Blue Waters” workshop held in 2006. The workshop assembled experts from engineering, planning, economics, law, hydrology, aquatic ecology, geom- phology, and other disciplines to present research ?ndings and identify key new ideas on the urban water environment. At a lunch discussion near the end of the workshop, several of us came to the recognition that despite having considerable expertise in a narrow discipline, none of us had a vision of the “urban water en- ronment” as a whole. We were, as in the parable, blind men at opposite ends of the elephant, knowinga great deal about the parts, but notunderstandingthe whole. We quickly recognized the need to develop a book that would integrate this knowledge to create this vision. The goal was to develop a book that could be used to teach a complete, multidisciplinary course, “The Urban Water Environment”, but could also be used as a supplemental text for courses on urban ecosystems, urban design, landscapearchitecture,water policy,waterqualitymanagement andwatershed m- agement. The book is also valuable as a reference source for water professionals stepping outside their arena of disciplinary expertise. The Water Environment of Cities is the ?rst book to use a holistic, interdis- plinary approach to examine the urban water environment. We have attempted to portrayaholisticvisionbuiltaround theconcept of water as a coreelement ofcities. Water has multipleroles:municipalwatersupply,aquatichabitat,landscapeaesth- ics, and recreation. Increasingly, urban water is reused, serving multiple purposes.

Urban Waterways: Evolving Paradigms for Hydro-based Urbanisms investigates the environmental, cultural, and economic future of cities on the water in the 21st century. Collected here are urban projects across the globe from 15 cities on 5 continents representing not only the complexities of urban life in the face of environmental concerns, global economic shifts, waste and energy management, and post-industrial legacies but also new thinking and practices that are emerging from a reconsideration of the value of hydro-based urbanism through a recalibration of our settlement patterns. Contexts range from coastal cities to cities associated with river, lake and wetlands ecologies and offer strategies from retrofitting and recovery to imagining new cities on the water. Although each of these urban projects proposes site specific responses that are locally relevant and respond to the city’s distinctive landscapes, they are also linked through their reconceptualization of a land and water dialogue and in the manner in which they tap into the broader spectrum of what portunism that suggests alternative directions and visions for our urban futures. The congress was held in Durban South Africa.

This edited book covers all aspects of River related disasters, challenges, and opportunities. Step-by-step descriptions are provided of river dynamics and associated hazards, and their applications in hazard assessments, accompanied by several experimental, filed and numerical studies. In addition, a systematic table of content is given to aid in identifying River hazards challenges and opportunities. Essential information is provided on River dynamics, hydrological processes and climate change issues, and an individual chapter is devoted to ecological restoration and river hazard management. Further topics include the stability of hydraulic structures, sediment transport, and debris flow in the hilly streams. This book will provide students, researchers, scientists, water resources managers with a comprehensive overview of the River dynamics and flood hazards in various sectors of water-related disasters and will enable them to explore the scope of application of the computational techniques and will enable them to explore the scope of River related disasters, allied branches and their field-specific problems. Professionals and policymakers may also explore the implementation of these approaches in their workplace to tackle complex river dynamics and hydrological phenomena occurring in their study area.

Fluvial Hydrosystems provides a unified approach to the study of running waters and aims to provide a scientific basis for sustainable management of rivers. It differs from traditional texts in viewing rivers as structured, four-dimensional systems and integrating ecological and geomorphological approaches to provide a holistic perspective on river dynamics. Advanced students of geomorphology, ecology, environmental science, land use and civil engineering will all benefit from this wide-ranging and stimulating textbook.

This book discusses the protection, planning, and design of sustainable urban water environments. Against the backdrop of environmental changes, it addresses issues of water resource protection and sustainable development in China and Germany at different stages of urbanization, as well as relevant strategies and lessons learned. It focuses on three topics: balance between water environment protection and utilization in the urbanization process; sustainable use of water resources in the urbanization process; and water-related planning and design strategies in urbanization and local cultural development processes. In the context of water resources, China and Germany can learn from each other’s experiences and can support one another in the fields of urbanization and locality. As such, the book brings together Chinese and Germans scientists from various disciplines, such as planning, geography, landscape, architecture, tourism, ecology, hydraulic engineering and history to provide a multicultural and multidisciplinary perspective on the topic and examine the challenges and opportunities as well as the planning and design strategies to achieve sustainable, water-related urban spaces. By combining theoretical and practical approaches, it appeals to academics and practitioners around the globe.

This book addresses the various factors affecting fluvial systems, the processes governing them, system responses arising from human-nature interventions, and geospatial and geo-ecological modeling to understand system behaviour better and restore degraded ecosystems around the globe. Thanks to their hydrological and agro-ecological advantages, humans have settled along riverbanks since the dawn of civilization. Thus, the ancient "ecumene" (settlements) were located near major rivers worldwide. This legacy of river-based civilizations continues to this day in many forms. However, in the course of the 'Anthropocene' era, countless fluvial systems have been altered by human interventions in the form of large-scale dams and barrages, changes in land use and land cover, road-stream crossings, mining of sand and gravel, mushrooming of brickfield, expansion of modern agriculture, industrial growth, and urbanization. Thus, the present-day development pattern threatens fluvial systems, especially riverine morphology and ecosystems. In brief, human-induced morphological changes, water pollution, eutrophication, and related damages to aquatic organisms are the major threats to fluvial systems. Thus, maintaining the 'environmental flow' of the world's major rivers to preserve the proper functioning of riverine ecosystems and promote sustainable development is a global challenge.