Heterogeneous water provision in Dar es Salaam: The role of networked infrastructures and alternative systems in informal areas

Abstract

Urban waterscapes in developing world cities are notoriously fragmented, resembling archipelagos rather than continuous networks. Graham and Marvin’s concept of splintering urbanism links the collapse of infrastructure networks to this fragmentation. Yet this idea has been criticized for suggesting the absence of these networks is a sign of failed modernity in Southern cities such as Dar es Salaam. Urban political ecology illustrates how social, historical, political, and ecological processes work together to create uneven and unjust landscapes and waterscapes. In Dar es Salaam, the colonial policy of segregation and unequal service provision helped to create the fragmented system seen today. As a result, many residents—especially those in informal and peripheral areas—rely on heterogeneous water provision systems. These systems provide innovative ways to deliver water but do so at a high cost. This paper uses case studies of two informal areas—Buguruni and Vingunguti—to illustrate the divergent trajectories of seemingly similar places. One is more connected to the piped water network while the other relies almost exclusively on informal water delivery providers. In explaining these differences, this paper offers an intra-urban comparison that highlights inequities at a smaller scale. It also acknowledges the role of networked infrastructure in these heterogeneous systems by giving voice to residents who consider the piped water network their ideal source.

Power, politics and a poo pump: Contestation over legitimacy, access and benefits of sanitation technology in Kampala

“…New designs and practices continue to emerge (and are particularly prevalent in Latin America; see also Smith et al, 2014), but social scientists have largely turned away from such questions. Both residents and scholars often denigrate 'alternatives' as racist or pejorative (Fredericks, 2018;Smiley, 2020). Consequently, the modernist infrastructure ideal continues to underpin the aspirations of many states, municipal authorities and critical scholars both for its material and symbolic powers (Mkhize et al, 2017;Anand et al, 2018;del Carmen Morales et al, 2014).…”

Conflicts, cooperation and experimentation: Analysing the politics of urban water through Accra’s heterogeneous water supply infrastructure

“…within one neighbourhood, one street) and mesoscale configurations offer for incrementally reverse (water) inequalities -i.e. water sharing arrangements between households (Smiley, 2020). But analyses at this scale have also shown the limits of local interventions for progressive change, i.e.…”

Meeting WASH SDG6: insights from everyday practices in Dar es Salaam

“…While this map provides an indication of unequal water provision across the city, it does not reflect the most up-to-date information as the utility remains reluctant to openly share data. [Smiley, Sarah L (2020), "Heterogeneous water provision in Dar es Salaam: the role of networked infrastructures and alternative systems in informal areas", Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space.] SOURCE: Map produced by the author with data from DAWASA (2014).…”

“… 8. Nganyanyuka, Kapongola, Javier Martinez, Anna Wesselink, Juma H Lungo and Yola Georgiadou (2014), “Accessing water services in Dar es Salaam: Are we counting what counts?”, Habitat International Vol 44, pages 358–366, available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019739751400112X; also Smiley, Sarah L (2013), “Complexities of water access in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania”, Applied Geography Vol 41, pages 132–138, available at http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0143622813000854; and Smiley, Sarah L (2020), “Heterogeneous water provision in Dar es Salaam: the role of networked infrastructures and alternative systems in informal areas”, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space . …”