The research will 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 answer one overarching and three secondary research questions:
Overarching research question:
- What institutional frameworks enable the urban poor to improve their wellbeing through improving their access to services and preventing urban green and water ecosystem disservices?
Secondary research questions:
- What access/exposure do the urban poor have to green and water ecosystem services/risks?
- What institutional arrangements structure their access at different levels?
- Do 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 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).