Deconstructing water scarcity in urban projects : a "silent" privatization of water network in Lima

Résumé 0

In city-making, actors react to problems and water provision is one of them in Lima. The recent conflicts around water shortcomings in privately developed housing complexes have pointed out a new issue regarding water services. Lima presents a case where the incentives implemented by the government to produce mass housing solutions for the middle and lower classes have stimulated the real estate market but were not accompanied by an integral planning of the metropolitan area nor an improvement of its infrastructure. Formal building development is hardly dissociable from urban infrastructures, including water: when delivering real-estate units, the access to basic services is supposedly comprised. Focusing on water infrastructure, an essential good to sustain human existence and one of the most complex utility in terms of provision and profitability, is an opportunity to understand the mechanisms at work. It also enables to characterize the regulatory framework in which it takes place, specifically regarding vital infrastructures provision in the development of buildings. Indeed, in the case of real estate projects, water issues take another dimension than in the informal settlements as it involves private entities, considerable investments, legally authorized building projects and a section of the population that have accessed to housing legally and formally (often through governmental programs). In this sense, it is an opportunity to shed light on another aspect of water utilities problem in Lima and in turn, to understand the mechanisms at work regarding Lima’s urban development and its regulatory practices. This research will conclude on the integration of the water utilities provision to the private developer’s responsibilities uncovering a "silent" and progressive privatization of the water network expansion.