Thesis supervisor(s): Sylvy Jaglin
The expansion of electricity, water, and sanitation networks in developing cities is complicated by the absence or inadequacy of urban planning. The methods used to provide utilities to informal neighborhoods in Delhi and Lima are analyzed here as socio-technical mechanisms that reveal the dynamics of urban development. Every day, companies install poles and pipes in unplanned neighborhoods. Technical, social, and institutional innovations make it possible to extend networks to these areas; so the lack of planning is not an obstacle to servicing. However, this process is suboptimal: the work is carried out in a disorderly manner, unpredictability limits the development of strategies, and political injunctions can be contradictory. Such coordination deficits generate uncertainties that are difficult for service companies to overcome. Nevertheless, there are promising avenues for intervention in unplanned neighborhoods: alternative service provision mechanisms exist that can be promoted; informal data and plans meet the need for knowledge about the city and would benefit from being exploited; and the design and preservation of the road network are crucial to enabling coherent, progressive, and sustainable urban consolidation. Analysis of network expansion identifies key instruments for public action in developing cities, thus offering new perspectives for urban planning to develop the existing city and strategically prepare for future urbanization.
Thesis defended on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 Doctorate in Spatial Planning, Urban Planning
Year of thesis registration:
2010
Doctoral school:
VTT – City, Transportation, and Territories