ABSTRACT
Throughout this book, we have highlighted the actors and forces which largely explain, we think, the current dynamics of the water sector. Most of these actors and forces are, as we saw in Chapter 1, part of a much larger process of globalisation, which goes far beyond the water sector. The water sector is in fact not even the most ‘advanced’ sector when it comes to liberalisation and deregulation. In this particular sector’s dynamics, it appears, water and more generally public services TNCs, as well as the World Bank and certain national governments, do play a key role. As a result, the way water was traditionally managed is rapidly changing, and urban water supply and sewerage systems in particular are rapidly being privatised. ‘Privatisation’ here means above all private sector participation in its various forms, i.e. from management contracts, to leases, to concessions. But, as we have argued above, this might just be the beginning of the story: such water privatisation will necessarily lead to profound organisational and institutional adjustments. The first such adjustments will have to occur at the national level, where institutions to manage privatised water will have to be created. But this will rapidly create further institutional dynamics, whereby water issues will also and simultaneously have to be tackled at local and at global levels.
