Water-sensitive planning: integrating water considerations into urban and regional planning

Water-sensitive planning (WSP) is an approach to sustainable development that integrates water considerations into urban and regional planning. Following a literature survey and a condensed report of our 15 years of studies, the paper presents WSP's goals, domains, principles and practices and the paradigms that underpin them, with special attention to stormwater management. It encompasses all planning scales, from the building lot to the catchment area. The paper ends with suggested generic planning principles that evolved with the growth of WSP but are intended to also serve other domains of planning for sustainable development.