Have you ever had a bath under one? Yes this is a discussion of urban spaces but believe it or not some urban-ites don't have running water in their households. Traditionally, the standpipe was the meeting point for village news. Women would discuss daily going-ons and trash out issues while washing clothes children would bath and the various rituals of the society would unfold. Today, the standpipe represents the unequal distribution of resources most face in urban centres. Now the standpipe in the urban center represents a contested space, an area of conflict where individuals fight over this resource. Hall and Barrett (2012) in
Urban Geography 4th Edition discusses the economic impacts of urbanization on different social groups. o Haughton and Hunter (1994) in Hall and Barrett notes that "...
the environmental consequences and costs of urbanization impact unevenly on different social groups..." - one of these groups are the "squatters". These individuals are less able to protect themselves from floods and natural other environmental problems as they tend to occupy spaces that were not designed for them in the urban centers.
It was very interesting reading about what the standpipe represented years ago as compared to now I never took the time to think of that.It is also sad to note that in a time as such that some communities have to burn tires and protest to get a simple yet very important resource of potable water. nice post!
ReplyDeleteA well taken-for granted site -- I agree with Chris, great post! You could expand on the uneven distribution of resources and the reason this is exacerbated in the global south.
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