Received: 2026-01-11  |  Accepted: 2026-04-24  |  Published: 2026-06-30

Title

Decision-making processes with focus on water demand planning


Abstract

Decision-making processes in Water Demand Planning (WDP) represent a novel and significant concept within the domain of public administration. This paper employs a qualitative approach, integrating both secondary and primary data sources. Secondary data, acquired through a systematic literature review encompassing 468 documents from Scopus-indexed journals spanning from 1972 to 2024, shed light on the extensive literature surrounding decision-making processes in WDP. However, the bulk of this research has predominantly emanated from developed countries such as the USA, UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, with developing nations lagging in this area of study. In addition to secondary data analysis, primary data from interviews and questionnaires are utilised for thematic and statistical analysis. Insights gleaned from interviews and questionnaires suggest a potential deficiency in organisational decision-making processes within management ranks. In summary, this study underscores the newfound importance of decision-making processes in WDP within the public administration sphere.


Keywords

decision-making, water demand planning, systematic review, public management, public administration, government


JEL classifications

H30


URI

http://jssidoi.org/ird/article/251


DOI


Pages

66-81


Funding

The research is funded by University of Johannesburg, School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy, South Africa

This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors

Mukonavanhu, Tinashe
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa https://www.uj.ac.za
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Nel-Sanders, Danielle
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa https://www.uj.ac.za
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Journal title

Insights into Regional Development

Volume

8


Number

2


Issue date

June 2026


Issue DOI


ISSN

ISSN 2345-0282 (online)


Publisher

VšĮ Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, Vilnius, Lithuania

Cited

Google Scholar

Article views & downloads

HTML views: 259  |  PDF downloads: 320

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