Entangled with Water: Participation and design of water and sanitation infrastructure in Indonesia

Abstract

This research operates at the intersection of three domains: informal settlements, water infrastructure, and participatory design. These domains are connected by the wicked problem of how to design and deliver health and environmental improvements for the one billion people living in informal settlements. How can participatory methods meaningfully engage people and things to facilitate systemic change? Embedded within the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) Program, this research explores the tensions and contradictions of designing decentralised water and sanitation infrastructure in six informal settlements in Makassar, Indonesia.