The Secret to Winning at Introduction

In many cities today, the urban environment and watershed are two distinct territories, linked together by a series of pipe networks. This design thesis seeks to define a new form of watershed that would reconcile the urban grid with the actual natural watershed; and in so doing, set up a new contractual relationship between people and their watershed.

“Neighboursheds” is the term used to describe this reinterpretation of the watershed. It refers to a neighbourhoodbased watershed, where the boundaries of the watershed are defined by the limits of a neighbourhood community instead of topography. The “neighboursheds” scheme is a system of distributed water infrastructure located at the community level, intermediating between two extreme scales in Batam’s urban water system – the large, highlycentralized city reservoirs and the small, household level of domestic wells.

Each neighbourshed has its own grammar of collecting and managing water. The strategies employed in each one are site-specific calibrations to the different financial, topographical and pollution realities of different neighboursheds.

In Batam where the government cannot always be relied upon for the supply of water, “neighboursheds” presents an alternative to the state’s singular system of water provision. Here, infrastructure is reconceptualised as a means to organize landscape so as to create community identity and a personal sense of orientation. It is also incorporated as an essential visual component in the urban environment so that the position of water in people’s consciousness is elevated and a stronger connection with water is drawn. When people learn to take up responsibility over the well-being of their watershed, water sources can be safeguarded through community-level action.