Geography of urban infrastructure transformation – understanding the global diffusion of innovation in the sanitation sector (GEO-SAN)

Urban infrastructure systems face transformation pressure due to climate change and rapid urbanization.

They are often characterized by a strikingly narrow set of technological, organizational and institutional set-ups, despite fundamental differences when it comes to material and institutional preconditions. Conventional solutions are inherently ill equipped to meet contemporary and emerging challenges.

There is thus a need to study transformation dynamics in urban infrastructure sectors, in terms of the institutionalization processes underpinning the emergence of sustainable infrastructure innovations and the mechanisms of multi-scalar spatial diffusion across different cities.

The project draws on transition studies, economic geography and neo-institutional theory, to advance a configurational perspective to analyze the modes and mechanisms of diffusion of sustainable infrastructure solutions; identify place-specific factors that influence these processes; and assess factors that influence the replicability of different configurations.

The empirical focus is on the institutionalization and spatial diffusion of two emerging configurations underpinned by a shift to de-centralized sanitation infrastructure, namely Small-Scale Source-Separating Sanitation Systems (6S) and Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS).

The project traces and compares (de-)contextualization- and spatial diffusion processes using a combination of STCA and qualitative case studies.