So fresh and so clean: urban community engagement to improve the sustainability of drainage infrastructure

Rising sea levels and recurrent stormwater flooding threaten infrastructure, livelihoods, homes and lives in coastal cities around the world. This is particularly the case in developing countries where drainage and other... [ view full abstract ]

Rising sea levels and recurrent stormwater flooding threaten infrastructure, livelihoods, homes and lives in coastal cities around the world. This is particularly the case in developing countries where drainage and other flood-related infrastructure is poorly developed or obsolete. Building resilience requires significant infrastructural investments but also requires the engagement of communities in the preservation and maintenance of infrastructure and public spaces. This is challenging as little is known on how best to engage communities in the preservation of public spaces, particularly in urban settings. In this paper, we use an experimental (randomized controlled trial) method to test the effectiveness of an intervention designed to motivate community members to keep their local area clean, thereby increasing the effectiveness of drainage infrastructure and reducing the risk of flooding in that area. Our sample consists of 160 randomly selected quartiers (communities). The program targets established community-based groups within treatment quartiers and provides them with a non-monetary incentives-linked “social contract”, called “Operation Quartier Propre” (OQP), to maintain and preserve public spaces by keeping them trash free. We test whether community engagement is improved through OQP and also examine the impact of this intervention on outcomes relating to health, education and livelihoods. We find that the program had a significant positive effect on households’ likelihood of receiving training and their perception of the cleanliness of their neighborhood. There is also some evidence that this reduced their experience of flood-related illness and income lost due to flooding. However, the results show limited impact on objective measures of cleanliness of the local area.