A phenomenological approach to water in the city: : towards a policy of letting water appear

• Autores: Henry Dicks
• Localización: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, ISSN-e 1472-3433, Vol. 32, Nº. 3, 2014, págs. 417-432
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Ivan Illich and Jamie Linton have both argued that our current technological relation to water constitutes an abstraction. Developing this insight in the context of phenomenology, I draw on Michel Haar�s French translation of Gestell�the essence of technology, according to Heidegger�as �consommation� (consumption), to put forward a criticism of the abstract status of water in postindustrial, consumer societies. I propose in its place a concrete, phenomenological approach, according to which a policy of �letting water appear� can not only play a significant role in the unconcealment of poie-sis�Heidegger�s response to the question concerning technology�but also form the basis of a renewed urban water policy. Four key examples of letting water appear are examined: daylighting urban rivers and streams; harvesting local rain and ground water; treating wastewater on-site using �living machines�; and attuning demand to local water flows. I conclude by suggesting that urban water policy cannot be reduced to integrated water resource management, for the transition to sustainability also requires a fuller understanding of the phenomenological issue of �letting appear� (poie-sis).