Water as Leverage- Setting the scene for a call for action

Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia
Chennai
From Relocation to
Transformation
[6]
The inhabitants of the many slums
in Chennai are not only the most
vulnerable group on a social and
economic level; they also live in the
most endangered parts of the city.
These informal settlements can be
found in riverbeds, along the canal or
amidst the estuaries in unprotected
and low-lying land that is the most
prone to flooding.[1]
In an attempt to clear the water
system, the government encourages
these precarious settlers to leave
their informal dwellings in order to
relocate into organized collective
housing projects elsewhere in the
city – ironically, some of these are yet
again situated in the wetlands.[2]
However, this strategy of relocation
has shown to be unfeasible on a
practical level. The slum dwellers
have deeply rooted ties within their
community and with their urban
environment, and therefore often
refuse to leave.[3] Conversely, once
a community has been relocated,
another will replace it shortly after
the demolition of the informal
settlement and the encroachment
on the water bodies remains. Can
a more humane and sustainable
alternative to the relocation
strategy be found in a strategy
of transformation that consists
in upgrading existing informal
settlements and starts a process of
formalizing them?
The slum inhabitants form the group
of citizens most affected by the
consequences of water- and wasterelated
issues on a daily basis. By
making them not only responsible
for the problem but also part of the
solution, a co-creative process of
incremental upgrading can unfold in
three beneficial steps: first, as a side
effect of the restoration of the water
system, the living conditions of the
slum dwellers improve.[4] Second,
as co-owners of this solution the
slum dwellers become responsible
for the maintenance after the
restoration [clean water stays clean].
[5] And third, the transformation
leads to an upgrade of both the
ecological environment and the
urban surroundings of the water
system.[6]
To ensure a durable and efficient
transformation, these steps should
be implemented not as solitary
incidents randomly across the city,
but as part of a greater plan that
effects change starting upstream
and – tributary-by-tributary – flows
into the estuarine areas of the Adyar,
Cooum and Kosasthaliyar rivers
downstream.[7]
[3]
[1]
SCHOOL
[2]
[4]
SCHOOL
[5]
98 Call for Action
PART 1 / From Global Water Issues to a Call for Action
[7]
99