Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro and its Water Supply Systems in the 21st Century

Abstract

Why take an interest in metropolitan water supply systems in this third decade of the 21st century? Metropolitan regions are situated at the center of current debates concerning urban sustainability because they are one of the most important social demands concerning the functioning of the different infrastructure systems that articulate places and make life possible in these agglomerations. On the one hand, the formation of metropolitan regions and metropolitan agglomerations requires large and well-articulated infrastructure systems and network, on the other hand, control over the different networks and infrastructure networks conditions the functioning of these regions. This article takes the water supply system of the metropolis of the State of Rio de Janeiro as an object of study in order to expose broader issues involving the management and regulation of territories. It is concluded that the metropolitan level constitutes a management scale that complements and articulates sectorial and territorial regulation devices, though, not without conflict.