L’adaptation urbaine à la rareté de l’eau à Phoenix et à Tucson (Arizona) : une approche de political ecology

Abstract

This paper focuses on the management of scarce water resources in two metropolises of the arid West of the United States facing intensifying droughts and increased water stress. Located in the Sonoran Desert and built on the model of the oasis city, Phoenix and Tucson are great examples of the socio-ecological challenges linked to extreme water scarcity. This study considers these two cities as laboratories for urban adaptation to climate change and explores competing modalities of adaptation to water scarcity. Since the system of large hydraulic infrastructures underpinning urban growth is increasingly called into question, we observe and analyze the power relations between stakeholders involved in water resource management. Using an urban political ecology framework, this contribution shows that adaptation strategies are implemented by dominant actors in order to maintain the growth trajectory of particularly attractive cities. Yet, it also highlights the role that citizen empowerment plays in the emergence of potential environmental alternatives. The results show that environmental alternatives play an important role in regulating resource control strategies and in calling for socio-environmental transformations in the urban metabolism.

Keywords

• city
• water management
• climate change
• adaptation