Mapping operation and maintenance: an everyday urbanism analysis of inequalities within piped water supply in Lilongwe, Malawi

《Mapping operation and maintenance: an everyday urbanism analysis of inequalities within piped water supply in Lilongwe, Malawi》

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关键字: Urban water supply; infrastructure; everyday practices; decentering urbanism; Lilongwe; DAR-ES-SALAAM; POLITICAL ECOLOGY; ACCESS; SERVICES; CITIES; INFRASTRUCTURES; INFORMALITY; MUMBAI; INDIA

作者单位: [Alda-Vidal, Cecilia] Univ Manchester, Geog & Sustainable Consumpt Inst, Manchester, Lancs, England. [Kooy, Michelle] UNESCO, IHE Inst Water Educ, Dept Integrated Water Syst & Governance, Delft, Netherlands. [Kooy, Michelle] Univ Amsterdam, Amsterdam Inst Social Sci Res, Governance & Inclus Dev, Amsterdam, Netherlands. [Rusca, Maria] Kings Coll London, Dept Geog, London, England. Alda-Vidal, C (reprint author), Univ Manchester, Geog & Sustainable Consumpt Inst, Manchester, Lancs, England. E-Mail: Cecilia.aldavidal@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

摘要: In this article, we analyze the production of inequalities within the centralized water supply network of Lilongwe. We use a process-based analysis to understand how urban infrastructure is made to work and explain the disparity in levels of service by tracing the everyday practices of those who operate the infrastructure. This extends existing analyses of everyday practices in relation to urban water inequalities in African cities by focusing on formal operators, rather than water users, and looking within the networked system, rather than outside it. Our findings show that these practices work to exacerbate existing water stress in poor areas of the city. We conclude with a reflection on how understanding these practices as the product of the perceptions, rationalizations, and interpretations of utility staff who seek to manage the city's (limited) water as best they can offers insight into what is required for a more progressive urban water politics.