Co-production and collective action are viewed as essential building blocks of the institutional arrangements needed to sustainably expand access to basic services for the poor. The former requires consensus, which the latter can provide. This research will explore these institutional arrangements, focusing on services derived, and disservices resulting, from two important ecosystems – urban green and water structures – in low-income settlements in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).

The overall aim is to identify a set of policy-relevant design principles for the institutional arrangements necessary for producing and distributing ecosystem services that promote sustainable improvements in the wellbeing of the urban poor. In doing so, it combines both natural and social sciences to achieve the following objectives:

• To examine what access/exposure the urban poor have to green and water ecosystem services/risks.
• To identify the institutional arrangements structuring their access at different levels.
• To examine whether collective action and coproduction improve the urban poor’s access to ecosystem services and create a basis for developing effective institutions.

A focus on institutions reflects the particular nature of low-income people and communities for whom institutional dependency (be it at the grassroots level or in formal domains) is a way of life. It also puts our research at the heart of UK and International development policy and interest, as evident in on-going post-MDGs debates.