On rainy days, Meliana Mei no longer has to navigate a hazardous obstacle course to reach the market. Instead, she walks along an elevated pathway from her home in Makassar, Indonesia, although floodwaters collect in trenches below and drain away. For years, these same rains turned her neighborhood into a series of disconnected islands, forcing residents to wade through waist-deep water or pay for rides on makeshift rafts.
Mei is one of the roughly 40% of Makassar’s 1.7 million residents who live in flood-prone informal settlements. These neighborhoods are often defined by substandard housing and a critical lack of basic services, leaving thousands vulnerable to the combined threats of heavy tropical rains and rising sea levels—risks that are intensifying due to climate change.
A new initiative is challenging the traditional urban planning approach of relocating these communities. Instead, a program led by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is demonstrating how community-led design improves water and sanitation by treating these multigenerational neighborhoods as sites for infrastructure innovation. By integrating nature-based solutions with local knowledge, the RISE program is upgrading environmental health without dismantling the social networks and livelihoods that sustain the residents.
Nature as Infrastructure: Breaking the Cycle of Contamination
In the dense, low-lying landscape of Makassar, traditional centralized sewage systems are often impractical. For too long, poor drainage meant that stormwater and wastewater mixed, spreading fecal contaminants through streets and homes. Tajuddin, a community leader in one of the settlements, noted that this “dirty water”—known locally as camar—was a primary driver of diarrhea and other health crises, particularly among children.
To interrupt these pathways of contamination, RISE has introduced decentralized, nature-based infrastructure. Rather than relying solely on concrete pipes, the program utilizes planted wetlands where soil, roots, and microorganisms filter contaminants from wastewater before it returns to the environment. This approach is supplemented by smart pressure sewers and covered community septic tanks.
“RISE uses nature as infrastructure in this process,” said Diego Ramirez-Lovering, a professor at Monash University and co-director of the RISE program. He noted that traditional sanitation solutions often fail in these dense environments, necessitating alternatives that can function within the specific constraints of the coastal city.
A Blueprint Born from Listening
The technical innovations of the project are secondary to its implementation method. The RISE team spent weeks living and working within the settlements, organizing workshops where residents—including elders, parents, and children—mapped out where water actually flows and which spaces are most vital to the community.
This collaborative process ensured that the infrastructure served more than just a sanitary purpose. For example, the 3,000 square meters of raised pathways now function as communal gathering spaces, and wetlands were positioned with sensitivity to local cultural beliefs, sometimes serving as buffers against spirits. Residents even requested the addition of landscaping and clothes-drying racks to support their daily routines.
“It is not the planner who decides where infrastructure should go,” explained Ihsan Latief, an infrastructure specialist with the RISE team. “The community decides that this location is the right place to put infrastructure facilities.”
To ensure long-term sustainability, the program established KePoLink, a network of community environmental champions who monitor the systems and maintain communication with city agencies. What we have is paired with “visual contracts”—illustrated guides that clearly outline the responsibilities of both the residents and the municipal government in maintaining the new facilities.
Measuring Impact Through Rigorous Science
Unlike many urban pilot projects, RISE is anchored in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), a method typically reserved for medical research. By upgrading six settlements and using another six as comparison sites, researchers can objectively measure how nature-based infrastructure influences public health and water quality over time.
| Metric | Direct Impact | Indirect/Broad Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Reach | 1,400+ direct beneficiaries | ~6,000 residents |
| Physical Assets | Hundreds of toilets installed | 3,000 sq meters of raised paths |
| Environmental | Decentralized wetland filtration | Improved drainage and flood risk reduction |
This evidence-based approach is designed to influence city-wide policy. By proving a measurable link between community-led sanitation and improved health outcomes, the program provides a scalable argument for investing in climate-resilient infrastructure in informal settlements across the Global South.
Scaling the Model for Global Urban Change
The implications of the Makassar project are already extending beyond Indonesia. The city government has identified 30 additional informal settlements as priority sites for future upgrades, integrating RISE’s methods into long-term municipal planning and budgets.
Similar strategies are being adapted in Suva, Fiji, and are informing the Citarum Action Research Program in West Java, which focuses on sanitation for communities living along the heavily polluted Citarum River. The goal is to shift the global narrative from seeing informal settlements as “problems” to seeing them as laboratories for urban resilience.
The program’s success has gained international recognition; the Makassar project was named one of five finalists for the 2025-2026 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities. The award celebrates initiatives that catalyze healthy cities, with the grand prize winner to be announced on April 20, 2026.
As the city of Makassar begins the transition of operations and maintenance to municipal staff, the project stands as a proof of concept: that when residents are treated as architects of their own environment, the resulting infrastructure is not only more effective but more enduring.
This report focuses on urban infrastructure and public health. For specific health concerns regarding waterborne illnesses, please consult a licensed medical professional or local health authority.
We invite readers to share their thoughts on community-led urban planning in the comments below or share this story on social media to highlight climate-resilient solutions.
