Concrete in the city

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the hydrological imperative and engineering capacity for change, concrete storm water infrastructure remains obdurate in the urban waterscape. This obduracy manifests both as an unwillingness to remove existing infrastructure and the continuing construction of new infrastructure in locations previously free of these systems. This paper identifies four critical socio-political values underlying the obduracy of concrete storm water infrastructure and the resultant urban stream syndrome. Following a brief critique of reactive storm water management frameworks to manage this syndrome, this paper articulates four common values of Indigenous science(s) that are well placed can contribute to improve storm water management. Supporting this argument is an example of Indigenous science(s) changing the form and function of a reach of an extant concrete storm water channel in Canberra, Australia. While these interventions will be assessed primarily from water quality perspectives, they contribute to a greater range of environmental processes than purely hydrological.