Transformation of Urban Lake Governance in Bangalore, India a Comparison of Civic Initiatives
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Master’s Thesis, 60 ECTS Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development Master’s programme 2011/13 120 ECTS Transformation of urban lake governance in Bangalore, India A comparison of civic initiatives Flor Luna 1 AKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks, first and foremost to my supervisor María Tengö for all the guidance, the patience and the wise words. To Per Olsson and Harini Nagendra. To all the inspiring people involved in the restoration initiatives that I interviewed during my fieldwork, you are the authors of these transformations. To all the support of Johan, Derick, Basu, Vanessa. Hans and Julian, you are my driving force. 2 Transformation of urban lake governance in Bangalore, India A comparison of civic initiatives Master Thesis of Flor Luna Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development Stockholm Resilience Centre Supervisor: Maria Tengö Co-Supervisors: Per Olsson and Harini Nagendra June 2nd 2014 ABSTRACT Urban lakes connected though channels across the city of Bangalore generate multiple ecosystem services including flood control, groundwater recharge, and water use for local livelihoods as well as recreation. However, on-going lake restorations often focus on recreation while excluding other users such as the urban poor, and fail to take into account lake connectivity and ecological function. Furthermore, restoration events are not followed up with adequate management actions. This study analyses and contrasts five lakes with co-management agreements, of which two were in more advanced state, and present the findings based on interviews with individuals involved in the initiatives. Aim was to a) identify key phases in navigating change, and b) actors who were key in the different phases and their characteristics. The results suggest that strong leadership connected with emotional ties to ecosystems is key to initiating and navigating early stages of the transformation efforts, while successful interactions with formal authorities seem to be leveraged by politically engaged actors with knowledge about the functioning of the government system across scales. Stages related to the preparation of plans and proposals require the presence of actors with ecosystem-oriented knowledge, as their inputs seem to be strongly connected with improved ecological outcomes. Finally, a varied set of actors organized in sub-groups seem to facilitate phases related to building resilience in improved states. In identifying and analysing the capacities and competencies needed to initiate, develop, and facilitate transformation, the study reflects on general lessons for local and cross-scale governance of urban commons in complex governance contexts. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................5 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................7 2.1 Governance and co-management....................................................................................7 2.3 Transformations through time, phases............................................................................7 2.4 From cross-scale interactions to social networks arrangements....................................8 2.5 Key Individuals................................................................................................................9 3. CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION......................................................................................................13 4. METHODS.....................................................................................................................................16 4.1 Operationalization of the Research Questions..............................................................16 4.2 Data Collection..............................................................................................................18 4.2.1 Anonymity Considerations..........................................................................................19 4.3 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................20 5. RESULTS.......................................................................................................................................22 5.1 General Context.............................................................................................................22 5.1 Overview of the Case Studies.........................................................................................24 5.1.1 Kaikondrahalli lake, "A walk with the dragonflies".........................................24 5.1.2 Puttenahalli lake, "A window with a lake view"...............................................30 5.2 General findings.............................................................................................................38 5.3 Additional findings.........................................................................................................47 5.3.1 Spread out of new initiatives...........................................................................47 5.3.2 Upscaling effects.............................................................................................47 6. DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................49 7. CONCLUSIONS AND INSIGHTS FORWARD.............................................................................58 8. LITERATURE CITED...................................................................................................................60 APPENDIX 1. Theoretical Framework.............................................................................................64 1.1 Transformation Phases based on Olsson et al. (2004b and 2006) 1.2 Literature connecting cross-scale interactions to social networks arrangements APPENDIX 2. Case Studies..............................................................................................................66 APPENDIX 3. Methods.....................................................................................................................67 3.1 Epistemological Background 3.2 Type of Enquiry 3.2 Operationalization of the research questions 3.3 Data Collection 3.3.1 Further Description of the Narrative Interview Methodology 3.3.2 Narrative Interview Guide APPENDIX 4. Results from the Complementary Cases....................................................................74 4.1 Lower Ambalipura Lake, "A bird festival". 4.2 Chinnampahalli Lake. 4.3 Uttarahalli Lake. 4 1. INTRODUCTION The costs of human´s continuous modification of the biosphere are accumulating hastily (Reid 2006). Challenges like human-induced climate change, accelerated declines in biodiversity, and the degradation of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems contrast humanity´s strive to cover the needs of a rapidly growing and urbanizing population. Cities, as the most intensely human-modified social-ecological systems (SES) are "characterized by heterogeneity, highly contested land use, rapid social change, limited capacity for ecological renewal, and high concentration of administrative units" (Ernstson et al.2010). Therefore cities pose complex challenges when addressing the provision of ecosystem services (ES), which are essential for human well-being. Existing governance structures are often ill equipped to address these challenges, and so qualitative changes are needed in governance structures. This can be referred to as transformations (Olsson et al. 2006). Previous studies on the transformation of the governance structures that manage ecosystems and the provision of ES have identified successful governance transformation cases occurring within rather favourable governance structures in developed countries (Olsson et al.2006, Biggs et al.2010, Yafee et al. 1996). It is predicted that the majority of the world´s population will be living in urban areas in low- and middle-income countries within the next few decades (UNFPA 2011, 5). This reality presents further challenges to the developing context such as rapid economic growth and urbanisation, weaker governance structures, poverty, and equity unbalances (Benjamin 2000). Therefore attention to the transformation of governance structures in these contexts is critical. Many authors analysing transformation of governance arrangements to enhance the generation of ES within SESs, have focused on the characteristics of key individuals and their role in pushing the systems towards desired states, addressing the importance of leadership (Bodin & Crona 2009, Olsson 2004a), network brokers (Manring 2007), institutional entrepreneurs (Westley & Vredenburg 1991), and the capacity of these individuals to connect groups and individuals and facilitate the transference of knowledge (Olsson 2004b). This research focuses on simultaneously understanding the mediation and constriction that the arrangement of social actors (or social network) sets over the actors that are part of it, as to account for both the key individuals and the structure within which they operate (Ernstson et al. 2010, Olsson et al. 2004b). As well as on identifying how specific types of key individuals and different social arrangement configurations are linked, throughout time, to transformation processes (Olsson et al. 2006, Rosen and Olsson 2012). 5 The aim of this thesis is to better understand the emergence of small-scale