First-Class but not for Long: Heterogeneous Infrastructure and Water Bricolage in Accra’s Kiosk Compounds

Rossella Alba,Antje Bruns

doi:10.1007/s12132-021-09435-7

Rossella Alba, Antje Bruns

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-021-09435-7

Copy DOI

Journal: Urban Forum	Publication Date: Sep 23, 2021
Citations: 8	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Trier

Abstract

This paper explores the micro-geographies of water access in the context of a first-class residential neighborhood of Accra served by the city’s networked infrastructure. We focus our analyses on how water is accessed and supplied to six kiosk compounds—privately owned, walled plots of land provisionally inhabited by urban dwellers living in kiosk-like structures with the (tacit) knowledge of the plot-owners. We document how kiosk inhabitants access pipe-born water, despite not being directly connected to the city’s network, through diverse configurations of actors, practices, and material set ups. Our findings suggest more attention should be paid to the micro-geographies of water distribution in networked neighborhoods as this contributes to more nuanced understandings of the uneven and diverse ways through which water is distributed in the context of Accra’s incremental urbanization. To analyze this diversity, we suggest combining the heuristic of heterogenous infrastructure configurations with the concept of water bricolage and using the plot as a unit of analysis.

Highlights

In recent years, urban scholars have put forward the idea of paying more attention to local geographies and everyday infrastructural relations in the analysis of urbanization and urban inequalities (Lawhon et al, 2014; McFarlane & Silver, 2017; Pieterse, 2008; Simone & Pieterse, 2017)
The area has been served by pipeborn water for about 15 years; water flow is rather regular compared to other areas of the city and, as several residents told us, “unless they [the water company] close the pipe, in the area there are no problems with the water” (Interview notes, Kiosk inhabitant, 2017)
Some of the kiosk inhabitants we interviewed had moved in a kiosk that was already located on a plot; others moved onto a specific plot with their kiosks after being evicted from another place

Summary

Introduction

Urban scholars have put forward the idea of paying more attention to local geographies and everyday infrastructural relations in the analysis of urbanization and urban inequalities (Lawhon et al, 2014; McFarlane & Silver, 2017; Pieterse, 2008; Simone & Pieterse, 2017). Bruns everyday, it is argued, contributes to a more precise analysis of urban challenges and helps us to appreciate the diversity of solutions already put in place by residents to meet their basic needs and inhabit the city (McFarlane & Silver, 2017). We contribute to the project of crafting more situated understandings of urbanization processes and access to basic services, focusing on urban water supply. The area has been served by pipeborn water for about 15 years; water flow is rather regular compared to other areas of the city and, as several residents told us, “unless they [the water company] close the pipe, in the area there are no problems with the water” (Interview notes, Kiosk inhabitant, 2017)

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion