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Water Insecurity and Water Governance in Urban Kenya

Policy and Practice

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Anindita Sarkar

    1. Department of Geography, Miranda House, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

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  • Explores water service provisions of urban poor in the cities of Africa
  • Discusses urban water management and the “production of thirst” among the urban poor
  • Focus on water access and service provision in Nairobi

Part of the book series: Global Challenges in Water Governance (GCWG)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Water Insecurity and Urban Water Governance: Understanding the Context

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 1-27

  3. Water Services and Water Infrastructure in Urban Africa

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 29-41

  4. Evolution of Urban Water Supply in Kenya

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 43-61

  5. Access to Affordable, Safe Water Supply in Urban Kenya: A Macro Analysis

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 63-89

  6. Standpipes, Water Vendors, and Water ATMs: Who Wins and Who Loses?

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 91-133

  7. Coping Strategies and Adaptive Responses to Water Insecurity

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 135-152

  8. Conclusion: The Way Forward

    • Anindita Sarkar
    Pages 153-166

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 167-181
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Keywords

About this book

This book explores water service provisions of the urban poor in the cities of Africa with particular emphasis on Kenya and its capital city of Nairobi. In particular the book addresses the insecurity of tenure, and how the colonial segregation of land continues to shape water access and service provision even today in Nairobi. The book seeks to understand how urban water management entails the “production of thirst” among the urban poor and documents how cultural norms, political commitments and seemingly mundane practices of water managers combine to exclude the poor from accessing water. Supporters of privatization argue that private companies may succeed where governments have failed in supplying water to the urban poor. The author takes a closer look at this argument, demonstrating the limitations of some of the current reforms whilst also exploring alternatives and solutions. This book will be an invaluable reference for students, researchers and practitioners working in this field.

Reviews

“With more than 50% of the world’s population already living in urban areas, urban water management has emerged as an urgent issue, especially in the Global South. This book by Professor Sarkar looks at urban water governance in low income neighbourhoods in Kenya. She contextualises her study of the water ATMs within the broader history of evolution of different models of urban water supply networks in Africa. This is an important piece of work for urban and water scholars who are interested in the issue of equitable water access in the Global South.”

Aditi Mukherji, Principal Researcher, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), India 

“The book offers an historic overview of the water supply policies and institutions in Kenya, supported by empirical research on the water ATMs. The macro and micro perspective and the methodological richness makes a substantial contribution for graduates on African water studies.”

Saravanan Subramanian, Senior Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability, Bonn, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Geography, Miranda House, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Anindita Sarkar

About the author

​Dr. Anindita Sarkar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Geography at Miranda House, University of Delhi, where she has been teaching since 2005. Her research is anchored at the intersection of development and environment and how technologies and policies of resource use and access shape spaces. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Water Insecurity and Water Governance in Urban Kenya

  • Book Subtitle: Policy and Practice

  • Authors: Anindita Sarkar

  • Series Title: Global Challenges in Water Governance

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15539-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-15538-3Published: 23 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-15539-0Published: 22 October 2022

  • Series ISSN: 2946-3971

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-398X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 181

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 18 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Environmental Policy, Sociology, general, Environmental Management, Geography, general

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