The Post-Networked Condition in the Urbanized Periphery: Transforming Water Supply and Sanitation Services in a Southern European Metropolis

Lucia Cerrada Morato

Journal of Urban Technology, 2024, vol. 31, issue 4-5, 241-266

Abstract: Urbanized peripheries are frequently regarded as unsustainable due to the high costs of infrastructure provision, escalating resource demands, and low social cohesion stemming from unequal access to services. In an increasingly suburbanized world, addressing this complex infrastructural crisis is crucial. Meanwhile, in consideration of these challenges, the European Union introduced the New Green Deal, promoting a strategy of hybrid investment in both networked and alternative forms of infrastructure development. However, there is limited understanding of how current suburban infrastructures are (re)produced and how interventions should be designed to support a more sustainable and progressive approach to service provision. This article proposes a conceptual and methodological framework centered on the “post-networked condition” to examine the heterogenous socio-technical foundations of Southern European metropolises. I argue that through the operationalization of this framework we can better integrate the characterization, diagnosis, and transformation of these socio-technical landscapes, bridging gaps in the traditional siloed debates of infrastructure transition studies. I conclude by calling for a shift in suburban studies beyond the prevailing neoliberal emphasis on densification and compaction as the main drivers of urban periphery transformation. Extending the concept of the post-networked condition beyond city centers and into urbanized peripheries offers a more comprehensive framework for addressing these transformation challenges.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1080/10630732.2024.2432015

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