Globally, large cities are facing growing water crisis driven by climate variability, rapid urbanization, aging infrastructure and weak governance. This seminar uses megacities such as Mexico City, as a case study to examine the physical, social, and institutional drivers of urban water insecurity, and public health implications of unreliable and unsafe water. Strategies for building more resilient and equitable urban water systems through integrated “One Water” approaches will also be discussed.
The lecture will be given by Tiong Gim Aw, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University.
Suggested reading material:
Ezcurra E, Mazari Hiriart M, Pisanty I, Guillermo Aguilar A. 1999. Chapter 2: The environmental history of the basin. In The Basin of Mexico: Critical Environmental Issues and Sustainability. United Nations University Press. (The book is available online at Tulane library)
Spring, Ú. O. (2011). Aquatic systems and water security in the Metropolitan Valley of Mexico City. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(6), 497-505. DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2011.11.002
Rose, J. B., Örmeci, B., & Aw, T. G. (2025). Water quality and health: An ecological perspective. Water & Ecology, 1(2), 100007. DOI: 10.1016/j.wateco.2025.100007
We’d like to ask that if you are on campus and able to join in person, please do so. There will be refreshments served. But if you cannot, here is the link to Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 997 7937 9588, Passcode: 127500).
The series is co-sponsored by the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Health Equity in Latin America, the Center on Climate Change and Urbanism, and the Program on Sustainable Urbanism at the Tulane School of Architecture and the Built Environment.
