**Preface to "Sustainable Management of Urban Water Resources"**

Currently, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, and this figure is predicted to grow to 68% by 2050, adding more than 2.5 billion people to urban populations. The United Nations World Water Development Report, 2018, warns that by 2030, the global demand for fresh water is likely to exceed supply by 40%. Added to population growth, climate change has the potential to lead to changes in rainfall regimes, with the potential of increased flooding and drought. Currently, 1.2 billion people are at risk from flooding, but this is predicted to increase to about 1.6 billion, i.e., nearly 20% of the world population, by 2050. To address these issues, approaches are needed that are flexible and have multiple benefits. This Special Issue includes topical issues around the management of urban water from groundwater supplies, the use of modelling to assess the use of sustainable drainage management trains at the construction site scale to address urban flooding, the management of surface water using approaches based on mimicking nature at the small scale, and the issues around the impacts of urbanisation on water quality and sustainable protection of the urban coastal zone.

> **Susanne Charlesworth, Craig Lashford** *Editors*

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