What are the causes of inequalities in access to water in Jakarta?
Beyond piped network Examining the role of centralised piped networks in producing inequalities in access to urban water supply has been a dominant question within academic analysis concerned with social inequalities in the city.
But the theoretical frameworks used to answer questions of water, urbanisation, and inequalities are often derived from experiences in Europe—where centralised piped networks are generally the dominant, if not only, water supply in cities.
To explain inequalities in access to water in Jakarta, examining the flows of groundwater, wastewater and piped water can provide a better answer than looking at the fragmentation of the piped water network.
We found that there is a connection between over-abstraction of deep groundwater in rich neighbourhoods and salinisation of shallow groundwater in poor neighbourhoods.
The result is that the city’s poorest residents, living on the most marginal land, experience higher exposure to flooding and poorer quality water.
The ability of wealthy households and businesses to opt out of centralised water supply limits the possibility to cross-subsidise either water consumption or water connections for low-income areas and households.
Jakarta’s experience shows that inequalities in access to water go far beyond the presence or absence of a piped network.
In looking beyond piped water networks to understand how water inequalities happen, we joined a movement in the scientific world “to world”.
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