Small and big infrastructure: a community-planning theory of increments and interoperability

ABSTRACT

With urbanization, cities face extreme challenges of infrastructure development. Approaches emphasizing the scale economies of Large Technical Systems (LTS) often overlook the importance of Small-Scale Providers (SSP). This paper reviews the literature on formal and informal SSPs of water, and develops a theory for how they relate to LTSs, focusing on cycles of urban demand and changing household expenditures. This proposed theory of integrated small- and large-scale infrastructures describes an “interoperability” of hybrid systems at the urban and spatial level. Graphs presenting these proposed relationships can be tested empirically and improve public investment and management of urban water supplies.

KEYWORDS:

• Infrastructure
• water supply
• planning
• urban services
• informal and small scale providers

JEL CLASSIFICATIONS:

• H4
• H7
• 01
• 02
• R5

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. An argument can be made that high tax rates in developed countries reflect high water prices, which can be true. However, as a socialized cost rather than a household decision, the method of covering the costs of household water supplies does not allow households a convenient way to choose how much to use.