Changing Hydrosocial Cycles in Periurban India

Carsten Butsch, Shreya Chakraborty, Sharlene L. Gomes, Shamita Kumar and Leon M. Hermans
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Carsten Butsch: Department of Geosciences, Institute for Geography, University of Cologne, DE-50923 Cologne, Germany
Shreya Chakraborty: South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, Secunderabad 500 094, India
Sharlene L. Gomes: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
Shamita Kumar: Institute of Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune 411 043, India
Leon M. Hermans: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: India’s urbanisation results in the physical and societal transformation of the areas surrounding cities. These periurban interfaces are spaces of flows, shaped by an exchange of matter, people and ideas between urban and rural spaces—and currently they are zones in transition. Periurbanisation processes result inter alia in changing water demands and changing relations between water and society. In this paper the concept of the hydrosocial cycle is applied to interpret the transformation of the waterscapes of six periurban villages in the fringe areas of Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. In doing so, three specific aspects will be investigated: (1) the institutions shaping the hydro-social cycle, (2) the interplay between water as a livelihood-base and the waterscape, (3) the interplay between the waterscape and water as a consumption good. This approach opens new views on periurban interfaces as emerging mosaic of unique waterscapes. The meaning of water, the rights to access water and the water related infrastructure are constantly renegotiated, as permanently new water demands emerge and new actors enter the scene. Especially this process-based understanding links the theoretical lens of the hydrosocial cycle with the object of investigation, the periurban space.

Keywords: periurban; water; livelihoods; institutions; household; hydrosocial cycle; vulnerability; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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