JWACA2025-015: Research on Urban Water Resilience Guided by System Science Research Paradigms

Abstract

Under the dual pressures of global climate change and rapid urbanization, urban water systems face multifaceted crises including water scarcity, frequent extreme hydrological events, and ecosystem degradation. Conventional engineering-dominated water management paradigms have demonstrated inadequacy in addressing these systemic risks. This study establishes a theoretical framework and methodological system for urban water resilience research, based on the paradigm shift in systems science. The investigation reveals that the "Three Waves" of systems science in the 20th century laid the methodological foundation for water resilience research, facilitating its transition from single-hazard response to complex social-ecological system governance. By integrating six critical dimensions—risk, disaster, carrying capacity, ecology, infrastructure, and governance—this work achieves three transformative advancements in urban water resilience understanding: (1) a theoretical shift from static equilibrium to dynamic multistability, (2) a methodological transition from unidimensional optimization to multiscale coupling, and (3) a practical evolution from engineering dominance to socio-ecological synergy. As a representative social-ecological complex adaptive system (SES-CAS), urban water systems develop resilience through tri-scale synergistic mechanisms. The proposed nested analytical framework provides theoretical tools to decouple the negative feedback loop of "climate change-urban expansion-water system degradation," while offering practical strategies to advance SDG 6 and SDG 11.