The contradictions of urban water provision: a study of Guayaquil, Ecuador

Abstract

This paper explores the contradictions in the provision of urban public water in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which result in the condition that a sizeable part of the urban population-and always the poorer end of the social spectrum-does not have access to piped potable water. In the first section, I briefly outline the history of the urbanisation of water in Latin America and the difficult access to water in many Latin American cities. In the second and main section, I explore the reasons behind the widening gap between the available supply of urban water and popular need. It is argued that (a) chronic problems of financial deficits, (b) a structural dependence on outside financing and (c) the 'productionist' bias of public water utilities combine to exclude people from access to the available potable water. In the final section, I discuss elements for a sustainable, emancipatory and empowering urban water circulation system.