An Integrated Perspective for Urban Water Management 49
Box 2.4 (continued)
urban nets to upgrade the whole city in an integrated way. The SNP worked at two broad levels: slums and the city. At the level of slums, it substantially upgraded the quality of life through engineering innovations, notably the creation of individual infrastructure and improvement in the overall slum environment. At the level of the city, instead of upgrading slums on a slum-by-slum basis, it considered the entire network of slums so that it became an opportunity for augmenting city infrastructure. This is because watercourses, which are major locations of slum settlements, also represent the most efficient lines for infrastructure provision. New infrastructure provided in the individual slums was linked to that of other slums and to the existing city systems to bring about significant improvements to the city as a whole. The SNP generated economies of scale: the cost of underground sewerage and centralized treatment under the Slum Networking approach was Rs 1,500 (US$44) per slum family for the on-site provisions and Rs 1,000 (US$30) for the off-site collection and treatment. This total cost of Rs 2,500 (US$74) was the same as that of a shared twin pit latrine (developed by the United Nations Development Programme) but the advantages are considerably greater (that is, all families have individual facilities and a much cleaner living environment). Source: Diacon, 1997.
All Players Should Be Part of the Process Critical to the success of IUWM is the early and continuous integration of all stakeholders—including the public—in the planning, decision-making, and implementation process. Stakeholder and public participation can improve the scope of decision making and can help to create long-term and widely acceptable solutions. It is important to ensure that decisions are soundly based on shared knowledge, experience, and evidence; that decisions are influenced by the views and experience of those affected by them; that innovative and creative options are considered; and that new arrangements are workable and acceptable to the public (European Commission, 2002). Stakeholder engagement can break down barriers to information sharing and learning and speed up the identification, development, and