Water as a Strategic Design Variable for Climate‐Resilient Urban Farming: Reconfiguring Sustainable Business Models Through the Water‐Enabled Resource Architecture Framework

Abstract

This study examines how water sourcing and management can be embedded within urban farming business models to enhance environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and economic viability. It introduces the water‐enabled resource architecture (WERA) framework, which conceptualizes water as a strategic design variable capable of reshaping value proposition, governance arrangements, value capture logic, feasibility conditions, and performance indicators. The framework is illustrated through a comparative case study of an urban aquaponics installation in which two structurally equivalent systems operate under closely aligned conditions and different water sourcing strategies: centralized potable water supply and rainwater harvesting. Within the analyzed case, the decentralized configuration is associated with greater water autonomy and estimated operating‐cost reductions, while also redistributing organizational responsibilities and requiring additional infrastructure, treatment, and monitoring routines. WERA therefore provides an analytical lens for examining how water choices reshape governance, stakeholder value, cost‐risk mechanisms, and resource resilience within urban farming business models. It also clarifies how water choices reshape governance, stakeholder value, and cost‐risk mechanisms in urban systems.