Richa S. Vuppuluri

Steering Water: Incorporating Environmental Behavior in Decision-making

My dissertation investigates how decision-makers can better intervene in complex urban ecosystems through incremental human-centric approaches, particularly those that go beyond large-scale designs and hard-engineering solutions. Such as incentivizing positive behavior of communities, businesses, or institutions; establishing a social support network to reinforce pro-environmental behavior; recruiting change agents or role models within our communities. If recognized and scaled appropriately, these approaches could be instrumental in crafting environmental policies, programs, and significant infrastructure projects. In addressing strained urban ecosystems, the dissertation aims to examine the multifaceted urban water management issues, practices, and projects by integrating a behavioral framework with urban planning. Investigating decision-making primarily at the collective level, while analyzing implications at the individual and organizational levels.

The urban water condition of rapidly developing cities forms this dissertation's context by broadly exploring the urban rivers of New Delhi that drain into the Yamuna River, Mumbai’s that drain into the Arabian Sea and Chennai’s that drain into the Indian Ocean. Their peculiar urban water challenges are defined by their characteristic coastal and riverine settings. The research ultimately deep-dives into one case-study by directly engaging an identified subset of decision-makers to rethink their urban water management practices, investigated through a policy-delphi study.