Abstract—Cities worldwide are using smart technologies such as sensors, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) to address growing water demand and shortages. This study analyzes 14 urban water security initiative implemented during 2014 to 2024 in the cities of different regions globally including Singapore, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Israel, Bengaluru, Lima, Melbourne, Mexico City, California, Michigan and Chennai. Selected initiatives are classified into seven focus dimensions to analyze their success or failure. Flint and Chennai initiatives conclude that in case of rigid policies or ignored communities the use of technology alone often fails. Initiatives taken by Singapore and Tokyo are observed successful and impactful as they utilized modern technology with a strong support from the government. Overall success of the urban water security initiatives is concluded based on the implementation of the technology that fits the local context, supportive and adaptable policies and strong commitment to fairness. Findings of this study provide a roadmap for urban water security worldwide by integrating governance, policies and equity with modern technology. This study directly addresses and contributes to two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for water (SDG-6) and sustainable cities (SDG-11).

Keywords—smart water management, water governance, urban water security, equity, climate resilience, sustainable development goals (SDGs), digital water

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Cite: Hafiz Abdul Wajid, Muhammad Abid, Zaineb Abid, "Beyond Technology: Governance, Policy and Equity Roadmap for Sustainable Urban Water Security Worldwide," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 71-76, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).