Project
Peri-urban water regimes and nature (PeriNature)
The proposed research seeks to bridge the research gap in peri-urban areas and their relationship with different ecological contexts. We will turn to peri-urban contexts of India because of their recognised potential for both reinforcing social and spatial injustice issues while simultaneously presenting valuable opportunities for new forms of innovation and for shifting urban trajectories towards sustainability. Taking an actor's perspective, we will unpack particular ways of explaining heterogeneous water regimes as being more than a socio-technical interaction and also explore possible ways in which they are shaped by the local environment. In this project, we argue that these configurations of actors, technologies and institutions do not exist in an ecological vacuum. We explore what these different ecological contexts mean for the functioning of the regimes.
Peri-Nature research is building on the past research project of Examining Nature-Society Relations Through Urban Infrastructure, between 2020-2023.
Project description
This project investigates the interlinkages between water regimes and embedded nature (or ecological contexts) in peri-urban spaces of India. Water regimes are conceptualised as configurations of actors, technologies and institutions through which water provisioning materialises. Peri-urban spaces are transitioning spaces, combining features of both rural and urban environments and being characterised by socio-economic heterogeneity. The diversity of actors, technologies and institutions through which water provisioning materialises translates into a great diversity of water regimes. Though the academic interest in issues of peri-urban water insecurity has grown in recent years, the heterogeneity of water provisioning regimes and their interlinkages with nature remains a critical knowledge gap. Addressing this gap is of central importance for policy-makers, and for making appropriate plans for water provision in these transitional spaces. In this backdrop, we explore the functioning of three water regimes in peri-urban areas of three cities – namely, Delhi (irrigation), Guwahati (stormwater), and Darjeeling (drinking water supply). Theoretically, we draw on Transition Studies (TS) and Urban Political Ecology (UPE) to explain interlinkages between water regimes and the embedded nature. The research is conducted using a qualitative research approach, drawing on ethnography, semi-structured interviews and direct observation of water access and provisioning.