Understanding intra‑urban inequality in networked water supply in Wa, Ghana.

Abstract

Extant studies on urban water access in African cities have mainly explained inequalities from the socio-economic and political perspectives. However, the material dimension of water supply has received little attention in the literature, though it is central in urban water supply. This paper examined how physical infrastructure artifacts and properties shape water access in Wa, Ghana. To understand the spatial dynamics, the study applied intra-urban comparative approaches to systematically analyze and compare networked water infrastructure across four different socio-economic neighbourhoods within the city. Data were collected through document reviews, in-depth interviews with utility officials and customers of the water company in Wa. The study reveals important differences across the four neighbourhoods that were studied, in respect of the extent of physical network coverage and the technical qualities of principal mains. The study concludes that both the physical and technical properties of water supply networks influence the distribution of piped water supply in Wa. Our case study emphasizes the agency of material objects in shaping water access in cities, which thereby takes the analysis of inequalities in water access beyond simple socio-economic and political narratives.