Modelling the Future Water Infrastructure of Cities

Many cities around the world are facing considerable pressure to cope with urban development, sustaining economic growth and providing basic living conditions. Urban infrastructure is aging and uncontrolled urbanization leads to considerable pressure on economic resources. Hence there is a need for new approaches in developing urban water systems. In this thesis, urban development is considered a complex non-linear dynamical system. Agent-based approaches are combined with physics-based hydraulic models of water networks in a Geographical Information System (GIS) framework. The result is a new approach to urban water infrastructure planning that can help water companies and municipalities to improve the design of water distribution and drainage networks.