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Social Power and the Urbanization of Water: Flows of Power

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The day after I first arrived in Guayaquil in mid-1992, a friend showed me
around town. I was given the classic geographer’s tour of the city, Ecuador’s
largest, located on the Pacific coast of this Andean country. The tour ended in
the late afternoon on a hill on the outskirts of the central part of town. It is the
kind of hill often favoured by geographers and planners to take visitors for a
bird’s-eye view of a city. Such a perspective helps to chart a panoramic view and
‘explain’ the city. This male gaze par excellence provides the illusion that it is
possible to ‘put the city in your pocket’ as a woman friend once put it. I was
tired and thirsty after a long day filled with stories and visits, and saturated with
new smells, sights, and impressions.

While my friend kept pointing out the landmarks that dotted the urban landscape
and invited attention, my mind and eyes wandered off to observe the
intense movements of people and trucks at the foot of the hill. Large blue
trucks drove on and off, while dozens of apparently similar vehicles flowed
back and forth over the dusty road. This hustle and bustle suggested busy economic
activity, more so than anywhere else in the city that I had just visited. I
interrupted my friend’s story and asked him about this strange traffic. He
glanced down, commented ‘Oh, they are selling water’, and continued with the
story that I had impolitely interrupted. I pondered the idea for a moment: ‘selling
water’. I also pondered the tone of self-evidence with which my friend had
uttered these words. It appeared to suggest that my question was rather naïve,
implying a blissful ignorance of the realities of urban life in Guayaquil. Of
course they were selling water. What else would a bunch of blue trucks at the
foot of a hill on the outskirts of Guayaquil do? I sat down and waited until my
friend had finished his story, while watching the movement of the trucks with
growing interest. Who were they selling to? Where did the water come from?
What kind of water? For whose city?

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

Oxford Geographical and Environmental Studies

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

New York : Oxford University Press Inc.., 2004

Deskripsi Fisik

xv, 209 Hlm.

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-19-823391-4

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

STUDI PERKOTAAN

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

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