Water as Leverage Asia: Chennai - Khulna - Semarang

Water as Leverage Asia

The three cities where Water as Leverage started pilot a transformative design approach with a view to replicating its principles in Asia and the rest of the world. The initiative involves a dedicated group of partners from governments, financial institutions, investors, experts and innovators and community stakeholders committed to the aim of using Water as Leverage as a blueprint for other cities and regions facing water challenges.

See more:

Setting the Scene for a Call for Action: extensive research-based document that narrows down from water-related challenges on a global level towards why we chose for the three cities in the first edition of WaL – Chennai, Khulna and Semarang. This document and its sources also provided a head start to the interested teams and generated a level playing field in terms of knowledge availability.

Call for Action document

The city specific trailer:

Chennai

Chennai is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the southeastern coast of India. Recent immigration has made Chennai the fifth most populous metropolitan area in India.

As a consequence, informal peripheral settlements in low-lying coastal areas that lack access to infrastructure and services house many of the recent arrivals. This rapid increase of population also affects the expansion of impermeable soil and failure of the drainage system. Chennai’s position on the southern coast of India, which suffers from land subsidence, makes the region extremely vulnerable to flooding and landslides.

Want to know more about Chennai and its various challenges, read this [City Report] (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jNbuCr24ZKz1yhaL71UmN7pdNnqDC3_Q/preview) or see the stories below

For even more information, see the Wal Chennai Library

The city of three waters

Bangkok, located in the Chao hraya Delta, is called the City of 3 Waters as it is influenced by the water from the north, the rain water, and the tidal water influenced by Gulf of Thailand.

We have a long history of living with water that can be traced back to at least Ayuthaya period. Water is a part of life, as a food source, agriculture, and mode of transportation of people. However, after the rapid economic and industrial development, the relationship between people and water has changed. Urbanization supersedes lands for agriculture. Cars replace boats and ships. Many canals have been converted into streets while the remainings lack of maintenance. These canals have garbage piled up and decreased their capacity of ecological service as ever before.

Bangkok and other provinces in Lower Chao Phraya Basin have encountered repetitive flooding. Meanwhile, agriculture has faced extreme droughts. Apart from these threats, climate change is intensifying. Toda's solutions are siloed among different agencies. Thus, it is urgent to have a platform and discussion that lead to integrated and effective solutions.

Want to learn more about Bangkok and it's WaL project, this Hotspot Analysis gives a great overview.

Please go to the Bangkok Library for more information!

Stories of Bangkok

    Semarang

    Semarang is a harbour city in the Indonesian archipelago with a dynamic shoreline, stemming from natural sedimentation processes and man-made extensions.

    The city has always faced hazards such as drought, land subsidence, landslides, water pollution, and floods, but these are likely to become more severe and frequent as a result of climate change. This will result in higher surface temperatures, an increased rainfall intensity, rising sea levels, extreme weather patterns, and water pollution, creating income fragility, decreased food availability, and migration.

    Interested in reading more about Semarang, read the City Report of Semarang

    For more information, please also visit the Semarang Library