Climates of urbanization: local experiences of water security, conflict and cooperation in peri-urban South-Asia

Abstract

This article explores changing water (in)securities in a context of urbanization and climate change in the peri-urban spaces of four South-Asian cities: Khulna (Bangladesh), Gurugram and Hyderabad (India), and Kathmandu (Nepal). As awareness of water challenges like intensifying use, deteriorating quality and climate change is growing, water security gets more scientific and policy attention. However, in peri-urban areas, the dynamic zones between the urban and the rural, it remains under-researched, despite the specific characteristics of these spaces: intensifying flows of goods, resources, people, and technologies; diversifying uses of, and growing pressures on land and water; and complex and often contradictory governance and jurisdictional institutions. This article analyses local experiences of water (in-)security, conflict and cooperation in relation to existing policies. It uses insights from the analysis of the case studies as a point of departure for a critical reflection on whether a 'community resilience' discourse contributes to better understanding these cases of water insecurity and conflict, and to better policy solutions. The authors argue that a community resilience focus risks neglecting important insights about how peri-urban water insecurity problems are experienced by peri-urban populations and produced or reproduced in specific socioeconomic , political and policy contexts. Unless supported by in-depth hydro-social research, such a focus may depoliticize basically political questions of water (re) allocation, prioritization, and access for marginalized groups. Therefore, the authors plead for more critical awareness among researchers and policy-makers of the consequences of using a 'community resilience' discourse for making sense of peri-urban water (in-)security. Key policy insights. There is an urgent need for more (critical) policy and scientific attention to periurban water insecurity, conflict, and climate change.. Although a changing climate will likely play a role, more attention is needed to how water insecurities and vulnerabilities in South Asia are socially produced.. Researchers and policy-makers should avoid using depoliticized (community) resilience approaches for basically socio-political problems.

Urban megaprojects and water justice in Southeast Asia: Between global economies and community transitions

“…Despite rainfall being plentiful at certain times of the year, Southeast Asia's urban, agricultural, and industrial landscapes face intermittent water shortages (Datta & Shaban, 2016;Pink, 2016). Climate change is creating more variability and uncertainty within these landscapes plus interacting with the effects of urbanisation (Roth et al, 2019). Thus, a key issue in Southeast Asia is the close relationship between urban water supply and sanitation, climates, and ecosystems.…”

The political construction and fixing of water overabundance: rural–urban flood-risk politics in coastal Ecuador

“…From this perspective, mega-hydraulic projects are at times deployed as the panacea to control floods. These infrastructures are generally located upriver from urban centres and/or rural areas with high levels of capital investments (e.g., Warner, Hoogesteger, & Hidalgo-Bastidas, 2017) and politically powerful interest groups (Marks, 2019;Roth et al, 2018). As shown by Osti (2017), the focus of implementing actions and infrastructure to prevent flood risk is contentious and involves the need to find 'rural spaces to occupy […] the image of security, and the search for an urban-rural cost-benefit balance ' (p. 266).…”

Can Urban Local Ponds Help Tackle Domestic Water Scarcity and Build Resilience? with Reference to South Asian Cities and City Regions

“…Recent studies on urban water provision in South Asia show that although policy measures for local rainwater capture are in place for many cities, groundwater water resources still tend to be over-exploited (Escurra Aguirre & Jones, 2019;Roth et al, 2019;Vinke et al, 2017). The importance of urban local ponds for urban water management is acknowledged (e.g., Yazdi, 2019), but their role is generally poorly understood in the Global South (e.g., Cornea et al, 2016).…”