Analysis of socio-ecohydrological factors affecting water security, liveability and sustainability : a case study of the Cirebon metropolitan region, West Java, Indonesia

Water security, liveability, and sustainability are important concepts in development. These concepts can help planners and managers to construct and achieve an equilibrium of socio-ecohydrological systems over a long period. This study, in the context of balanced urban development, seeks to better understand socioe-cohydrological issues, challenges, options, and strategies for achieving water security, liveability, and sustainability concerning urbanisation and climate change. This includes assessments of the urban and peri-urban environment and communities, and multi-level government institutions. Water security in this study is defined in the context of a water insecure region as “insufficient accessibility and capability of water sources and services to satisfy the household needs for health, livelihood, ecosystem, and production, coupled with inadequate acceptability and adaptive capacity of households to deal with the ecohydrological changes that impact liveability and sustainability”. Liveability is defined in this study as “dynamic interactions between water, people, and the environment as a function of biophysical and socio-economic subsystems in one urban system”, while sustainability is defined as “long-term liveability that is ensured via planning approaches and environmental management interventions”. Water security was assessed in the context of socio-ecohydrological change based on (i) the experiences of communities in the access to water and sanitation infrastructures; (ii) the acceptability of water risks from ecohydrological change; (iii) the capability of ecosystem and institutional services to satisfy the needs for health, livelihood, ecosystem, and production; and (iv) adaptive capacity in dealing with the impacts resulting from socio- ecohydrological change. Liveability was assessed based on the communities’ perceptions of the most important aspects for liveability, liveability aspects that they are most satisfied with, and liveability aspects that they are least satisfied with, in the urban and peri-urban areas. The results were categorised within four themes: ecosystem, urban, peri-urban, and human services. Sustainability was assessed by combining observed landuse/ hydrological/ climate data and the perceptions of climate change vis-à-vis ecohydrological changes and coping strategies. The study combined place and human-based approaches to assess these three thematic areas combining qualitative and quantitative data for finding interconnection and trade-off for achieving balanced urban development (BUD). Based on the in-depth case study of Cirebon Metropolitan Region (CMR) in Indonesia, this study explored (i) socio-economic and physical environments of the region including watersheds within the Cimanuk-Cisanggarung River Basin; (ii) community perspectives at different urbanisation levels; and (iii) multi-level government perspectives. This study presents seven analytical frameworks related to different aspects of work reported in this thesis: (i) delineate peri-urban areas; (ii) quantify rural-urban interface ecohydrology; (iii) understand urbanisation impacts on urban and peri-urban ecohydrological based liveability; (iv) identify perceived liveability of urban and peri-urban communities in the context of socio-ecohydrology; (v) classify issues and factors impacting household water insecurity in the context of socio-ecohydrological change; (vi) understand sustainability challenges concerning climate change and urbanisation in the urban system, and identify appropriate adaptation supports for sustaining water security and liveability; (vii) identify the complexity and uncertainty involved in assessing water security, liveability, and sustainability, and to find the linkages between urban and perixvii urban communities, urban and peri-urban ecosystems, and cross-scale institutions for achieving BUD

Defining rural-urban interfaces for understanding ecohydrological processes in West Java, Indonesia : part I. : development of methodology to delineate peri-urban areas

Urbanisation within global economic and socio-political settings has created rural-urban interfaces, or peri-urban areas, where ecosystem interactions are complex. It is now recognised that the rural-urban interface dichotomy in the current planning and management approaches does not adequately account for the rural-urban interface linkages, particularly for potential emerging conflicts in land and water demands and uses. Using the Cirebon Metropolitan Region (CMR), West Java, Indonesia as a case study, Part I of this two-part article aims to develop a suitable methodology for peri-urban delineation. We used a total of 11 social, economic and spatial variables directly or indirectly related to ecohydrology. Multivariate, univariate and multiple univariate data analysis techniques were used for defining regional rural-urban interfaces. Based on these analyses, eight regional classifications of rural-urban interfaces were proposed and evaluated based on different spatial classification methods and clustering techniques. The results of classification were mapped by integrating both Geographic Information System (GIS) and statistical methods. The study indicates that with the variable included, the multiple univariate clusters using Jenks natural breaks and scoring provides more accurate rural-urban definitions for peri-urban delineation. The proposed methodology provides a suitable framework for delineation of peri-urban areas needed for quantifying ecohydrological state in urbanising landscapes

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of perceived liveability in the context of socio-ecohydrology : evidence from the urban and peri-urban Cirebon-Indonesia

In this study, we examine key liveability aspects, viz., ecosystem services (ES), urban services (US), peri-urban services (PS) and human services (HS). Further, disparity in the liveability of urban and peri-urban areas that could hamper sustainability was investigated. The Cirebon Metropolitan Region in Indonesia frequently experiences water security issues. The perceived liveability of this region was assessed using survey data collected in 65 villages within 25 sub-districts. The study demonstrates that ES, US, PS and HS in the analytical framework of importance–performance analysis (IPA) can identify the main areas needing intervention to improve urban and peri-urban socio-ecohydrological systems and liveability. The method of combining qualitative and quantitative IPA schemes developed in this study is novel and is able to support a demand-based approach and comprehensive understanding of place-based needs for long-term liveability in a developing country situation

A framework for evaluating ecohydrological-based liveability in a rapidly urbanising region of Indonesia

We surveyed households within Cirebon Metropolitan Region (CMR) in Indonesia to assess ecohydrological changes and their impacts on urban and peri-urban liveability. Composite indices were developed based on the subjective assessment of selected liveability indicators representing socio-ecohydrological functions of the region. This study identified five underlying structures of satisfaction factors, viz., personal, residential, neighbourhood, regional, and watershed. The study shows that liveability satisfaction varied depending upon the level of urbanisation in the CMR. The study also indicates that the challenge to improve regional sustainability is significant in the urban–peri-urban transition zone where the poor are more likely to live and are more directly affected by urban expansion and degradation of the local ecosystem. The analytical framework developed in this study can help local and regional government agencies to examine holistic solutions that focus more on place-based needs for long-term liveability and sustainability

An assessment of household water insecurity in a rapidly developing coastal metropolitan region of Indonesia

Water security in the Cirebon Metropolitan Region (CMR) is under threat from regular flood and drought events, rapid urbanisation and climate change. This study used the Guttman’s scale approach to assess household water insecurity in the CMR. Factor and cluster analyses were then applied to confirm the results and identify issues that shaped household water insecurity in four urbanisation levels in the CMR, namely urban, urban/peri-urban transition (UPT), peri-urban, and rural. Data were obtained through surveys of 225 farm households and 205 non-farm households using face-to-face interviews. The study shows spatial variations of water insecurity concerning urbanisation and farm and non-farm households. The study indicates that dominant factors shaping household water insecurity in the CMR are (i) unacceptable levels in water risks and (ii) inadequate water sources and services to satisfy the population’s needs in relation to health, livelihood, ecosystems, and production. Flooding in the region significantly affects water insecurity of UPT farm and non-farm households, while droughts affect rural farm and non-farm households. The methodology used in this study provides an analytical framework to better understand socio-ecohydrological issues underpinning farm and non-farm household water insecurity and for developing an evidence-based water security policy in a rapidly urbanising region

Defining rural-urban interfaces for understanding ecohydrological processes in West Java, Indonesia : part II. : its application to quantify rural-urban interface ecohydrology

Part II of this two-part article aims to quantify the state of rural-urban interface ecohydrology using the Cirebon Metropolitan Region (CMR) in West Java, Indonesia as a case study. The methodology proposed in this study used 11 socio-economic and spatial variables related to open spaces distribution, biodiversity and ecosystem services, water supply requirement, water quality risks, water management capacity and climate change pressures. Regional rural-urban classifications from the eight spatial classification methods (part I of this article) and 2010 national census were validated using three rural-urban water indicators from random sampling of the rural-urban household survey in the CMR. Six proxy ecohydrological indicators were identified and a composite index using these indicators to quantify the state of ecohydrology at rural-urban interface was developed and applied to 45 sub-districts of CMR. The index indicates that all urban sub-districts have very low capacity in providing ecosystem services and will need peri-urban ecosystem services for enhancing urban sustainability and liveability. In general, urban and urban-peri-urban transition sub-districts in the CMR have significant higher values of composite index related to socio-economic aspects compared to those in the peri-urban and rural sub-districts. This indicates lower significantly open spaces distribution, higher water supply requirement, greater water quality risks, and higher climate change pressures. The six proxy indicators identified in this study and methodology developed for calculating the composite index is potentially useful for an objective assessment of ecohydrology of an urbanising landscape and thus for developing effective urban planning of future cities and their outskirts