Housewives, Urban Protest and Water Policy in Monterrey, Mexico

This article analyses a major water crisis in a Third World city, and its resolution. The city is Monterrey, Mexico. The crisis occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, and its resolution came in the late 1980s and 1990s. This study makes the following key points.(1) Water infrastructure development occurs within micro- as well as macroeconomic and political contexts.(2) Equitable infrastructure planning can occur only when the political contexts are favourable, even if the economic contexts are not.(3) Citizens who are not part of the formal decision-making structure (such as low-income women) can influence policy development and prioritization of investments for hydraulic infrastructure.