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Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Michaela F. Prescott

    (Monash Art Design and Architecture, Monash University, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia
    Joint first authors.)

  • Meredith F. Dobbie

    (Monash Art Design and Architecture, Monash University, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia
    Joint first authors.)

  • Diego Ramirez-Lovering

    (Monash Art Design and Architecture, Monash University, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia)

Abstract

In the developing economies of the Global South, a fundamental challenge in the transition of settlements from rural or periurban to urban is increased environmental contamination as a result of poor sanitation and sanitation management. With governments’ limited ability to connect all neighbourhoods to a city’s existing municipal water, sewerage and other services, decentralised approaches using green infrastructure offer potential to address this challenge. In addition, green infrastructure might facilitate a move towards a holistic response to manage the full water cycle. This paper presents a narrative review of green infrastructure projects, involving constructed wetlands or their variants for wastewater treatment, within vulnerable communities in the Global South. It describes the scale and scope of each project, identifies the challenges of implementation, and reflects on their outcomes for different stakeholder groups. The review demonstrates that decentralised sanitation programs using constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment can provide a range of advantages/benefits/services, dependant on the specific sociocultural, political and biogeophysical contexts of each. Issues of governance and sociocultural appropriateness, rather than technical issues, challenged the implementation of green infrastructure for sanitation in these projects. Projects must be a collaboration between the government, nongovernment organisations and the community. Whether the project is organised from top-down or bottom-up, community consultation is essential. Context will determine the role of the community in the consultation process and the type of information required to guide the design, implementation and governance of the system. In every project to provide decentralised sanitation systems, the community must be participants, not simply beneficiaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Michaela F. Prescott & Meredith F. Dobbie & Diego Ramirez-Lovering, 2021. "Green Infrastructure for Sanitation in Settlements in the Global South: A Narrative Review of Socio-Technical Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2071-:d:499623
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shervin Hashemi, 2020. "Sanitation Sustainability Index: A Pilot Approach to Develop a Community-Based Indicator for Evaluating Sustainability of Sanitation Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-12, August.
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    3. Pedersen Zari, Maibritt & Kiddle, Gabriel Luke & Blaschke, Paul & Gawler, Steve & Loubser, David, 2019. "Utilising nature-based solutions to increase resilience in Pacific Ocean Cities," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Sara Todeschini & Sergio Papiri & Carlo Ciaponi, 2018. "Placement Strategies and Cumulative Effects of Wet-weather Control Practices for Intermunicipal Sewerage Systems," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(8), pages 2885-2900, June.
    5. Martín Alejandro Iribarnegaray & María Laura Gatto D’Andrea & María Soledad Rodriguez-Alvarez & María Eugenia Hernández & Christian Brannstrom & Lucas Seghezzo, 2015. "From Indicators to Policies: Open Sustainability Assessment in the Water and Sanitation Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-21, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jia Zhong & Shaoquan Liu & Min Huang & Sha Cao & Hui Yu, 2021. "Driving Forces for the Spatial Reconstruction of Rural Settlements in Mountainous Areas Based on Structural Equation Models: A Case Study in Western China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, August.

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