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Urban Waterscapes: The Hydro‐Politics of Flooding in a Sinking City

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  • Kian Goh

Abstract

The threat of flooding in cities is often compounded by political and economic decisions made on watershed management, land development and water infrastructure and provisioning. It has also become a point of conflict between cities’ objectives for development and modernization, and the struggles of marginalized residents living in low‐lying coastal and riverine areas to remain in place. Flooding takes on different forms depending on one's point of view. It is a biophysical issue, involving geology, geography, meteorology and ecology. It is one of urban governance, involving planning and maintenance of infrastructure and land use. And it is sociopolitical, involving historical social and spatial marginalization and contestation. This article, based on mixed‐methods research in Jakarta, Indonesia, traces the conceptual and physical contours of urban waterscapes across these conflicting ideas and narratives. It brings into dialogue theories of urban political ecology, landscape ecology and environmental ethnography to explore the interrelationships between biophysical and sociopolitical factors behind urban flooding. In the article the focus is on the varying materialities and scales involved, including the ecological scales of the watershed, the infrastructural scales associated with flood protection, and the urban scales of planning, governance and social activism. The article concludes with a proposition for a multidimensional approach to thinking and acting on problems of urban ecological change.

Suggested Citation

  • Kian Goh, 2019. "Urban Waterscapes: The Hydro‐Politics of Flooding in a Sinking City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 250-272, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:43:y:2019:i:2:p:250-272
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.12756
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hasanuddin Abidin & Heri Andreas & Irwan Gumilar & Yoichi Fukuda & Yusuf Pohan & T. Deguchi, 2011. "Land subsidence of Jakarta (Indonesia) and its relation with urban development," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 59(3), pages 1753-1771, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tri Sulistyaningsih & Achmad Nurmandi & Muhammad Kamil & Ali Roziqin & Salahudin & Jainuri & Iradhad Taqwa Sihidi & Ach. Apriyanto Romadhan & Mohammad Jafar Loilatu, 2021. "Formulating Sustainable Watershed Governance Model: A Meta-analysis of Watershed Governance," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 10, March.
    2. V. Chitra, 2022. "Remembering the river: Flood, memory and infrastructural ecologies of stormwater drainage in Mumbai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(9), pages 1855-1871, July.
    3. Kirstie O’Neill & Charlotte Sinden, 2021. "Universities, Sustainability, and Neoliberalism: Contradictions of the Climate Emergency Declarations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 29-40.
    4. repec:bjc:journl:v:8:y:2021:i:4:p:44-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Sen, Amrita & Unnikrishnan, Hita & Nagendra, Harini, . "Imperilled Waterscapes: The Social-Ecological Transformation of Lakes in Bengaluru," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 3(02).
    6. Nygren, Anja, 2021. "Water and power, water’s power: State-making and socionature shaping volatile rivers and riverine people in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Kirstie O’Neill & Charlotte Sinden, 2021. "Universities, Sustainability, and Neoliberalism: Contradictions of the Climate Emergency Declarations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 29-40.
    8. J Miguel Kanai & Seth Schindler, 2022. "Infrastructure-led development and the peri-urban question: Furthering crossover comparisons," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(8), pages 1597-1617, June.

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