Political Ecology of Peri-Urban Water Security

The political ecology of peri-urban water security investigates how power relations, governance structures and socio-environmental processes intersect to shape access to and quality of water in zones where urban expansion meets rural landscapes. In these liminal spaces, rapid demographic growth and contested land uses generate complex water challenges: shifting hydrological regimes, fragmented governance, infrastructural deficits and uneven service provision. A political ecology lens highlights the multi-scalar nature of these dynamics, revealing how national policies, municipal authorities, local elites and informal actors negotiate water allocation, often reinforcing social inequalities. It brings into focus the hydrosocial cycle, emphasising that water’s circulation is both a biophysical and a social process, shaped by institutional arrangements and everyday practices. Peri-urban communities may rely on hybrid systems—formal piped networks coexisting with informal pumps, wells and tanker services—that evolve in response to political contestation, economic pressures and ecological change. Understanding these interactions is critical for devising equitable and resilient water security strategies that recognise diverse claims, adapt to climatic variability and bridge formal–informal divides.

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Political Ecology of Peri-Urban Water Security publication trend

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Technical terms

Political ecology: An analytical approach examining how power, politics and economic forces shape human–environment interactions.

Peri-urban: Transitional areas at the edges of cities where urban and rural processes converge and compete.

Hydrosocial cycle: A concept emphasising that water’s movement and storage are co-produced by social relations, institutions and ecological processes.

Water security: The condition in which reliable access to sufficient, safe and affordable water supports livelihoods, health and ecosystems.

Informality: Practices and arrangements that operate outside or alongside formal regulatory frameworks but fulfil essential service needs.

References

1. Demystifying piped water supply: Formality and informality in (peri)urban water provisioning. Urban Studies (2023).
2. Towards a peri-urban political ecology of water quality decline. Land Use Policy (2018).
3. Changing Hydrosocial Cycles in Periurban India. Land (2021).