Paper short abstract:

This presentation draws on an ethnographic study of small-scale water technologies in Mexico City to examine the role of local knowledge, technology, and power relations in catalyzing 'niche' innovations and shaping urban transitions to sustainable water supply.

Paper long abstract:

Theories of sociotechnical transition provide a valuable framework for understanding shifts in urban technological practice, yet the approach has largely focused on elite actors and knowledge systems in the global North. In this study, I explore the emergence of a 'niche' water innovation in Mexico City--the improved design of domestic rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems, intended to coexist with network water--to understand the role of local knowledge, practice, and power relations that catalyze niche innovations and shape urban transitions to sustainable water supply. Drawing on ethnographic and survey data of innovators and water users, findings indicate that RWH systems improve key aspects of household water security, allowing technology adopters to absorb 'shocks' created by network dysfunction and inequities in access. At the same time, the empowerment of individual users works against the broader knowledge politics of Mexican water authority and control. In Mexico City, state reluctance to move beyond modernist water regimes both inhibits the formalization and 'scaling-up' of grassroots water technologies and also perpetuates existing network dysfunction and disrepair. Transition to more sustainable and 'climate-proof' modes of urban water supply will entail major changes in seemingly ironclad norms of expertise, knowledge, and technology in water governance.