NEIGHBOURSHEDS

Abstract

Watersheds are traditionally defined by the natural geography of a place and commonly known as ecological units where water drains from the landscape to a common point of discharge. However, this conception of the watershed does not synthesize natural processes with human activity in a harmonious way. In many cities today, the urban environment and the watershed are two distinct territories linked together by a series of pipe networks. The urban grid and site design bears little resemblance to the actual natural watershed. In Batam, the degradation of pristine watersheds by rapid urbanism have weakened not only their ability to cleanse themselves naturally but also their capacity to retain stormwater. Consequently, the city is now faced with severe rainfall-induced flooding and rising water scarcity. My thesis seeks to define a different form of watershed – a “neighbourshed”, for it is essentially a neighbourhood-based watershed, where each neighbourshed has its own strategy of collecting and managing water. The aim is to inculcate watershed stewardship by setting up a new relationship between people and their watershed, thus enabling the safeguarding of water sources through community-level action.