ABSTRACT
Water businesses are at the center of the interplay between local water challenges, institutional and regulatory frameworks, and the power relations between all actors involved in governing and managing water. This chapter argues that transnational water corporations have been active and powerful actors in the construction and dissemination of urban water governance models since the mid-1990s. Three main driving elements have contributed to the evolution of private water participation since then: changes in the policies promoted by international organizations, changes in the perception of public authorities, and the learning process of leading water firms. This process has allowed transnational water corporations to build and exercise their power at different scales of water governance. Finally, this chapter contends that new models of water governance will need to recognize that taking advantage of the transnational scope and power of water firms may be just as necessary as strengthening the state’s capacity to regulate the private sector to ensure water access for all.
