Cities under pressure: a global review of urban water scarcity governance

Urban water scarcity is increasingly recognized as one of the most pressing challenges facing urban watershed management, driven by the compounding effects of climate change and rapid urbanization. Day Zero events, in which municipal taps run dry, have exposed critical vulnerabilities not only in physical infrastructure but in urban governance and social equity. While hydrological research often focuses on physical scarcity, this research argues that understanding urban watershed dynamics requires a systematic integration of social and institutional dimensions. This study presents a systematic literature review of three decades (1995–2025) of peer-reviewed social science research on urban water shortages involving rationing and emergency measures. Analyzing 69 articles from 1,295 records, the study tracks the evolution in research focus. Findings show shifts in disciplinary and methodological approaches, proposed coping strategies (technocratic versus sociocratic), levels of analysis, and water crisis framing. The review highlights that research is heavily clustered around several highly publicized water crises, notably Cape Town’s “Day Zero” (2015-2018), Australia’s Millennium Drought (2000s), and the Brazilian Drought (2014-2017). By synthesizing insights, the review identifies key gaps in integrated approaches for studying urban watersheds. It concludes that advancing urban water management research requires connecting hydrological processes with social-political drivers, to inform policy approaches that address scarcity not only as a technical challenge but as a fundamentally social and political issue.