Urbanization of water : entitlements and local institutions in the provision of potable water in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

The growing crisis of inequitable access to and provision of drinking water in developing countries has triggered the concerns of city governments, donors, and the scholarly community. The existing literature has extensively focused on equity issues and stressed the crisis of water governance among other causes. Yet, this study, among a limited number of cases, contextualizes the complexity of the issue in peri-urban areas where the public piped water network is mostly unavailable, water resources are often unmanageable, and inhabitants develop multiple strategies for water while still struggling to adapt to the transformation of the areas. Qualitatively designed, the study chose Co Nhue--a 55,000 inhabitant peri-urban community of Hanoi, Vietnam--as a single case and relied on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus discussions for data collection to anwer the two questions: 1) How do peri-urban residents secure water under the shared experience of rapid urbanization? 2) To what extent does the transformation of peri-urban areas influence their residents' water accessibility? Through combining the institutional approach and entitlements concept, this study attempts to offer a theoretical framework for the examination of the dynamics water governance and responses of peri-urban areas' residents and government to socio-economic and ecological transformations of the areas for securing drinking water. The key research findings indicate that, firstly, water accessibility of peri-urban inhabitants is deeply embedded into and influenced by socio-economic and ecological transformations of the areas. As a peri-urban commune continues to be absorbed into the urban fabric of a large city, its inhabitants experience a transition in their entitlements to drinking water that is determined by the availability and quality of water resources, providers, social relations shaped in their community, and the local government's accountability. Local residents' entitlements to water are shifting from free of charge to one that is primarily determined by a monetary basis. Secondly, because of the shift in water entitlements, vulnerable groups are most severely affected and would become unable to secure water without the government's support. Finally, community-managed water supply system arrangement could be an adaptive strategy, but this cannot be vital without the local government's support.