Abstract
ABSTRACT In order to investigate the role of spatiality in disparities in urban water access in the Indian city of Mumbai, this article uses the dual conceptual lens of “access-as-right” and “access-as-ability” based on the theory of access. The “access-as-right” lens allows for a focus on the role of formal policy and institutional regimes in determining disparity in water entitlements. This article argues that the spatial and structural conditionalities encoded in formal policy instruments in India, as well as the spatial and structural rationales underlying these conditionalities, are used to declare informal dwellings as spatially and structurally deficient. This “deficiency” leads to ineligibility of these dwellings for full water entitlement, creating access disparity that gravely impacts Mumbai’s vulnerable urban populations. This article relies on data from formal documents and semi-structured interviews of municipal engineers, experts, academics from related fields, and activists working on urban water access issues.
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