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ABSTRACTIn many Sub-Saharan African cities, residents depend more or less on decentralized (off the utility grid) water infrastructures, often by engaging in diverse but ordinary daily acts through which water is supplied and collected beyond the utility. However, little is known about how these practices and governance arrangement shape water access in terms of distance of water sources, reliability, affordability and water quality. This study addresses this gap by exploring the potential and limits of the ordinary ways in which peri-urban residents self-supply and collect water and how that shape water access. Through in-depth interviews, observations and household surveys, we contribute to urban water infrastructure governance debates by showcasing how these practices driven by a constellation of governance actors, simplified water access situation, and enable the involved actors (independent self-help actors and market-oriented actors) to earn extra income. The practices were characterized by informal relations, financial powers to supply water and to restrict use. These (re)produced geographies of access advantage in favor of the suppliers and access disadvantages to residents who depended on off the utility grid water infrastructures in the absence of state utility. We conclude that although the ordinary ways of supplying and regulating water infrastructures hold some potential for fulfilling the water access gaps, the uneven power relations, propertisation and commodification of water infrastructures limit their usefulness.

The West African region, one of the largest urban agglomerations in Africa has over decades experienced rapid rate of urbanization. The urbanization processes have been associated with manifold environmental and socioeconomic challenges including inefficient urban infrastructure, unaffordable housing, poor sanitation and informal settlements. Urban scholars following the rise of urbanization and climate change in West Africa have advocated for policies and programmes towards the reduction of carbon footprints and sustainable human settlements, while emphasizing on the needs to plan for urban sustainability. Yet limited studies have so far analysed the dynamics of urbanization in West Africa, especially in relations to sustainability. Motivated by the evolving debates on urban sustainability, this study contributes to urban planning discourse, by exploring the dynamics of energy consumption, gross domestic product, employment levels and productivity in six countries in West Africa and demonstrate the implications for urban sustainability. Using the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR)-Mean Group (MG) model, we analysed annual data from 1991 to 2018 of Urban Population Growth, Gross Domestic Product, Energy Consumption, and Greenhouse gas emissions. The study revealed variation across the selected countries in terms of rate of urbanization, productivity, and energy consumption. The results suggest the need for commonalities as well as differentiated approaches towards improving urban environmental quality for urban sustainability. Furthermore, while there is a need to promote green urban infrastructure, concerted efforts are required towards promoting sustainable urban environmental quality.