From water’s fundamental importance to life and the means by which it has been metabolized by cities throughout history, to its intimate connection to the ongoing crises of our age (economic inequality, climate change, Middle East Wars, unregulated global finance) and the (sometimes ancient) solutions that are used as positive drivers of change. And, perhaps most importantly of all, they try to address the oftentimes ignored link between water and the asymmetries in social and political power that exist in the Global North and South. Thankfully, although admittedly under distressing circumstances, it is these precise developments that have brought water back to the foreground of cultural consciousness.
“It is the hope that by revealing the hidden linkages between Water, Blood and Money, within our own lives that we can bring greater visibility to the substance most integral to life.”
Arjan van Timmeren
AMS PI & Professor Environmental Technology & Design (TU Delft)
What can and should be done; and by whom? Is the role of water in cities best left to the free market, do IT and Smart Cities offer the best solutions, or is it up to governments to create stronger water policies?
With this book, the authors also launch the innovative online portal of Under Pressure, which allows users to explore the content of the book via an interactive world map, following different types of storylines.
Get your own copy here.
This book is funded by Delft University of Technology & AMS Institute
