Mediating Waterscapes

Abstract

The phase “water, water everywhere but too much or too little” aptly explains the current situation of many global cities. Within the numerous challenges due to Climate change and Urbanisation, water ranks the highest as a risk to the society. This risk ranges from water related catastrophes like floods to availability of portable water to the growing population. There are many cities in the world that are threaten with this issue. One global city, that witnesses severe water related risks is Jakarta. Jakarta has been reported flooding as early as in the year of 1621 and since then there has various flood events over the years. In the olden times the kampungs and desakotas developed ways to live with the water forming a very sustainable and close relationship with their river system. But as Jakarta grew into a metropolis with problems and focus getting bigger and diverse, the focus shifted to an infrastructure-oriented development with which the perception of the river and kampungs began to change. A lot of alterations were and are still constantly being made to the physical morphology of both the river and the kampungs leaving them without an identity. At present the Kampungs are the “informal trouble” to the city and the rivers are canalized drains of water and waste.

The shift to a constant dependency on linear approaches of flood management and inequity in the planning policies leaves the Kampungs and river network vulnerable to the imbalance in the natural- built systems.

Therefore, the outcome of the project aims to look at an alternate perspective to approach the flood and water management structure of the city of Jakarta. It is done by looking at “urban poor not as a problem but as a part of the solution” to primarily address the issue of flooding. The project also aims to investigate ways to integrate them as a key component of the larger water management schemes. The urban poor in the Kampungs of Jakarta show a strong potential due to the deep engraved sense of community and affinity to the river and its cultural symbolism. These socio-cultural values of the people within the kampungs could be a key factor in bringing about a behavioral shift in the way they treat their rivers or immediate water systems. Bottom-up interventions within these Kampungs integrated with a top-down strategic plan could reduce a significant amount of stress on the river system and improve the socio-ecological values of the river